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Milan, Greensburg, North Decatur and Batesville
(BATESVILLE, Ind.) – Four area high schools are receiving a grant to help students explore different careers.
Batesville, Greensburg, Milan and North Decatur have been awarded the I-74 Career Navigator project grant from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
It's a $720,000 grant with each school having access to $180,000 for targeted career-focused initiatives.
"The I-74 Career Navigator project brings together these four high schools, along with Ivy Tech Community College, to broaden and enhance student career readiness throughout our region,” said Batesville Superintendent Paul Ketcham.
Ketcham added that the program will give students more resources to make informed decisions about their future careers.
The grant funding will be used to connect with local businesses to provide more real-world career exploration opportunities while also enhancing the advising time with school counselors and Ivy Tech career coaches.
Batesville plans to use a portion of the grant to focus on career coaching, pre-employment programming and professional development. The school will also enhance career-planning opportunities for those students for whom Ivy Tech is not a good fit.
“One of our mantras with our new Bulldog Ready community-connected educational model is that when we plan programming for all students, ‘all means all,’” added Ketcham. “We have been doing an exemplary job through our Ivy Tech partnership for college-bound students, but some students are not on that path and we need to provide them with the same depth of career guidance.
"Those who choose a different goal, including those on a non-traditional educational path, will be able to take advantage of increased time with school counselors to plan courses and find work-based opportunities to discern their next steps. We want every student to feel that their next step is as important as anyone else’s.”
