District Receives State Grant for Youth Skills Training & Career Tech Ed

C-I Schools is one of seventeen school districts across Minnesota that will receive funding to expand programs to offer meaningful career exposure and paid work experience for high school students 16 years of age and older.

The grants are part of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s (DLI) Youth Skills Training (YST) program that was signed into law in 2017 with bipartisan support. The program seeks to create and provide employment training for student interested in high-growth, high-demand occupations.

"This is great news for our students and our career technical education programs," said Katie Soler, CIHS Career and College Coordinator who submitted the grant application. "This grant will allow us to expand partnership opportunities that are a priority for our community, our students and our Strategic Plan."

“These Youth Skills Training partnership grants will help high school students throughout Minnesota find pathways to high-growth, high-demand occupations and allow them to participate in safe, meaningful work experiences in their community,” said Nicole Blissenbach, DLI commissioner. 

YST grants will be awarded to the following 17 partnerships, which will receive and split $1.5 million in funding to be used for programs operating from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2026. The partnerships will offer safe, meaningful work experience in advanced manufacturing, agriculture, automotive, health care and information technology.

• Albert Lea Area Schools

• Bemidji Career Academies

• Cambridge-Isanti Public School District 

• Detroit Lakes Public Schools

• Fergus Falls High School

• Great River School (St. Paul)

• Hennepin West Consortium

• Hermantown Community Schools

• Itasca Area Schools Collaborative 

• Minneapolis Public Schools – Camden High

• Minneapolis Public Schools – Wellstone International High School

• Moorhead Public Schools

• New Prague Area Schools

• Parkers Prairie School District

• Perham Schools

• ROCORI School District 

• Staples-Motley School District

Grants can be used to create programs, recruit students and employers, provide training, transport students and pay for industry-related student certifications.

Learn more at dli.mn.gov/YST.