Recently across Indiana, $1.65 million were awarded to 18 career/vocational institutions, one of which was Wabash County’s own Heartland Career Center (HCC).
Of that pie, the local school was given a maximum $100,000 slice and, still, that is a fraction of the financial support HCC has recently received for it creating career pathways for its students of all ages.
HCC, which offers career and technical education (CTE) to 10 high schools in Wabash, Miami, Huntington and Grant counties, also received grant donations from Ivy Tech Community College - Kokomo and the Community Foundation of Wabash County, who invested $150,000 and $20,000, respectively.
Also, a second grant from the State, specifically the General Assembly, was awarded last week, totaling more than $130,000 for creating a career pathway and collaborating with a regional post-secondary education entity.
The school’s reception of the initial $100,000, which came from federal funding, was announced in late January, but HCC held a formal announcement on Wednesday afternoon in one of its seminar rooms.
“We’re truly blessed to work with a large, collaborative group of people who are supportive of our efforts to continuously improve education and training for our students from Wabash, Miami, Grant and Huntington counties,” Hobbs said to open the formal announcement.
He advised to those in attendance, made up of local educators, employers and the school’s board of managers, that the grant process began with a conversation with Community Foundation Program Director Julie Garber.
“Through this initial $20,000 grant, we started plans for our welding teacher, Jack Holley, to be trained as a certified welding inspector and educator,” Hobbs said. “This grant also served as a starting point of each of the grants that we’ve been awarded, so I want to say a special thank you to Julie and (Executive Director Patty Grant) because with that $20,000, it has blossomed into something pretty special.”
Hobbs continued and spoke of the consequential relationship between HCC and Ivy Tech. He noted that the community college’s Kokomo region received a $3.27 million youth career connect grant and made HCC a partner in the endeavor.
Students in HCC’s advanced manufacturing classes, which include welding, precision machining and robotics, have the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree in the integrated technology program for free through this grant, he added.
Additionally through the grant, Ivy Tech will place $150,000 worth of manufacturing equipment in HCC for students of all ages, not just high schoolers, but adult learners.
The $100,000 grant, Hobbs said, will be used for equipment so students can earn a welding technical certificate from Ivy Tech, along with American Welding Society industry-recognized certifications. The largest part of the grant, approximately $48,000, will be used to purchase a virtual welding simulator.
The second grant from the State that fell into HCC’s lap, worth $134,886, recently came after dozens of Hoosier institutions submitted applications, with Heartland and seven other schools receiving money for their partnerships with businesses. This grant required a 3:1 public-to-private-dollar match in funding and/or services.
From that grant, $83,000 will be used for training equipment, lathes and mills. Also, $46,000 will go towards individual welding machines that provide instant feedback to students. Lastly, $2,000 is devoted to English and math scholarships for students.
On a post-announcement tour of the school, Holley said that the existing welding booths will be taken out and replaced with taller, safer ones. The virtual welding machines, he added, can be taken to schools, businesses and other locations to demonstrate how they work.
Piling on top of all of the generosity, Wabash MPI Carver, Inc. donated three pieces of equipment, worth approximately $120,000 in all.
HCC Board of Managers Vice President Kim Pinkerton, also the president and CEO of the Wabash County Chamber of Commerce, reminded those in attendance of how HCC’s staff came together to bring resources to the school.
“I thank (Mark) for being innovative enough to being on top of career technology enhancements, what’s going on at the State, being forward thinking,” Pinkerton said, “and for his staff, the knowledge they bring to this to move this processes forward and being watchful of these opportunities that we’re able to take advantage of.
“It’s been a long time coming that we’re trying to move this forward.”
The government grant monies will be used immediately through September for next school year, Hobbs reported.
He feels as if bringing additional funds into the school is a priority and a duty of his.
“Grants are made available through the State and I guess I feel like that’s one of my responsibilities and we have to try,” Hobbs. “We weren’t guaranteed anything...that second grant was extremely competitive. There were 43 applications and we were one of eight. Five of the eight were career centers and there are 49 career centers in the state, but that’s our job to go out and at least give an effort.”
Expansion of adult education, he added, is on HCC’s radar.