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UHS Earns Skills Capital Grant
Uxbridge HIgh School Earns Skills Capital Grant
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Tiano is proud to announce that Uxbridge has earned a Skills Capital Grant in the amount of $175,000 to support its Innovation Pathways Program. The award winners were announced at a ceremony held at Worcester Technical High School on Thursday, August 29, in a presentation highlighted by Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and the secretaries of the Governor’s Workforce Skills Cabinet: Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Rosalin Acosta, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Michael Kenneally, and Secretary of Education James Peyzer.
UHS will be using the funds to support Innovation Pathways in Information Science, Biomedical Science, and Manufacturing Engineering.
“We need students to start the journey earlier, and to help students and families think about their choices more strategically,” Lieutenant Governor Polito said at the presentation. “We want students to discover their passions and spark in what they like earlier, and, together, we are all in on the talent development business.”
One of the goals of the Workforce Skills Cabinet is to help students and teachers partner with industry to support the skills gap in the Commonwealth and to assist future employers with developing the skills of tomorrow.
“We want to help transform classrooms into learning laboratories so that the work teachers can do will be transformational,” said Lieutenant Governor Polito. “We want to connect students and teachers to their communities so that they will work in this state and keep talent here.”
UHS will be investing in additional technological capacity, including industry-standard desktop and laptop computers, 3D printing technology, unmanned aircraft/drone technology, and the first motion capture animation and digital studio in the Commonwealth. The initiatives connect to the Innovation Pathways launched at UHS, as well as the recently designed strategic plan for the district, which will incorporate enhancements to teaching and learning throughout the district.
“We are grateful for the support of the administration, who continues to provide us with resources to revolutionize and transform learning,” said Dr. Tiano. “These tools provide us with not only the hardware and capacity to change what students learn, but how we teach, how we develop different skills, and how we ensure that we are meeting the needs of our partners in the community and region alike.”
“What these schools are doing is transformational,” shared Secretary Acosta. “We are elevating the opportunity for students to learn a trade, perhaps go to work, learn about opportunities in fields like manufacturing, to limit debt, and to provide different kinds of options for students and businesses.”
UHS’ Innovation Pathways combine technical skill development with post-secondary learning opportunities, including Early College and Advanced Placement coursework, while supporting students through targeted partnerships with industry and a robust advising/guidance program.
“These resources provide us with a great responsibility to our workforce partners, our legislators, and our community at large,” said Uxbridge High School Principal Michael Rubin. “We want students to leave Uxbridge High School with goals and plans in mind, and for us to do that through hands-on learning with industry-standard technology requires the commitment of many hard-working people, from counselors, to teachers, to administrators, to families, to the work of our district as a whole. It is an exciting time to be at UHS.”