Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is one of four districts to share in Education Readiness grants from the Indiana Office of Career and Technical Education in partnership with TechPoint.
This grant program supports recipients who offer CTE programs that prepare students for careers in targeted Next Level Programs of study in information technology, including cybersecurity and software development. IPS will use its $75,000 allocation to support the IT Operations International Baccalaureate Career-related (IBCP) pathway at Shortridge High School, which is in its first year.
Shortridge will use the funding to purchase new technologies and equipment, to support its programs and offer these opportunities to more students, according to Jennifer Berry, CTE pathway director for the district.
Dennis Trinkle, Senior Vice President for Talent, Strategy and Partnerships at TechPoint, said TechPoint is pleased to see IPS investing in opening these pathways to more IPS students.
“Indiana needs thousands more tech-skilled graduates than the state is currently developing. Tech talent is in high demand, and tech careers offer high-paid careers with long-term career growth opportunities,” he said. “IPS’ innovative programs will offer pathways to opportunity in many of the most in-demand fields.”
Berry reinforced Trinkle’s point.
“Currently, the state is facing a drastic shortage of employees in the information technology sector with a need to fill 3,000 such jobs annually,” she said. “Currently in IPS, between all our IT-focused pathways, we have about 500 students enrolled. We need to do more to keep Indiana a competitive state in the IT space.”
In addition to providing funding for secondary schools to offer new CTE programs, Education Readiness grants are aimed at strengthening partnerships between industry and local schools. Schools using these grants must partner with a local employer to provide students with a work-based learning experience that directly complements their CTE pathway in advanced manufacturing or information technology.
These intentional partnerships are aimed at recruiting more students into these high-demand fields and graduating job-ready students with the experience and credentials needed by local employers.