Sauk Valley Community College, in partnership with Making Opportunities Real for Everyone (MORE) has applied for and was awarded a grant to fund educational pathways for local high school students. SVCC is proud to announce that this $249,000 year 1 grant from the Illinois State Board of Education is phase one of a four-phase grant cycle, totaling $747,000, that will allow the partnership to better aid area students who are interested in careers in the education field. High school pathways is a project that allows SVCC and MORE to work with area partners Ashton-Franklin Center High School, Amboy High School, Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico High School, Sterling High School, Forreston High School, Center for Change Alternative High School, ROE47, and Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.
This grant is an effort to help combat the teacher shortage. The grant work will attempt to prepare students to be educators in the hopes that they will return to the area after college graduation. As a response to the work being done by the MORE partnership, SVCC will award every student entering the college with an endorsement a $100 credit.
This is the second Education Pathway grant awarded to the college. Districts participating in the first grant include Morrison High School, Fulton High School, Dixon High School, Rock Falls High School, and Whiteside Area Career Center.
SVCC Creates 18-Credit Hour Solar Energy Technician Certificate
Due to the increased demand for solar energy in Illinois, Sauk Valley Community College has created an 18 credit hour Solar Energy Technician certificate. Additionally, driven by state initiatives, SVCC sees this as a viable certificate and career path for students. Specifically, Illinois’ adjustable block grant program offers credits for commercial and residential solar projects as part of the larger goal of Illinois’ Renewable Portfolio Standard, which calls for 25 % of the state’s energy coming from renewables by 2025. This has resulted in a number of solar projects being developed around our district. SVCC also has capitalized on this opportunity and has a 100-kilowatt system on its campus.
High School Students Benefit from New Apprenticeship Partnership Between Two Communities Separated by the Mississippi River
Fulton High School has recently worked out a partnership with Eastern Iowa Community College, and Clinton High School that allows for Fulton High School Students to enroll in a Department of Labor Registered High School welding apprenticeship program. Fulton High School students will be applying for apprenticeship opportunities with Fulton Employers, but take classes through Eastern Iowa Community College at their Clinton location. Fulton, IL and Clinton IA are separated by the Mississippi River, but the two school districts have worked out a solution that allows Fulton High School Juniors and Seniors to support Fulton Employers who need welders.
