Overton, Putnam Schools Among UC System To Earn State CTE Grant Funding

Five Upper Cumberland School Districts and York Institute among recipients of the state’s Perkins Reserve Grant funds.

Overton County Schools to use some $50,000 to power three career education programs. She said they want to showcase the equipment and software that will help students advertise in the digital age.

“They’re going to bolster a school-based enterprise. We have a vinyl printing machine, but we’re going to get a really nice vinyl printing machine,” Riddle said. “These students are basically going to run a business that can do some vinyl printing and some things like that.”

Riddle said they also plan to invest in the agriculture program and teaching as a profession program. She said they plan to use some of the grant funding to purchase VR goggles where students can simulate being teachers in a classroom setting and how that will look.

Putnam County CTE Supervisor Jackie Vester said Putnam Schools will use all of its $50,000 towards paying for student industry credential testing. She said the cost to sit for credential testing ranges from $40 to $250 a student.

“So this is going to allow students to sit for those industry credentials at no charge to them,” Vester said. “And those different certifications are going to show that they’re employable, workforce ready, in different areas.”

Vester said these funds will be a huge boost for students who want to sit for industry credential certification and plan to use all the grant funding in the next school year. She said this past school year, some 900 students sat for credential certification testing.

Vester said the tests are an important part of the CTE puzzle, because they show a student’s ability outside of a standardized test like the ACT.