Akron Public Schools Receives More Funding to Support College and Career Academies

By Ella Abbott

Published June 14, 2019 at 4:29 PM EDT

Akron high schools, such as East CLC, are working to better prepare students for their futures through college and career academies. [EAST CLC] — Akron high schools, such as East CLC, are working to better prepare students for their futures through college and career academies.

The GAR Foundation is helping teachers in Akron expose students to career opportunities through the new college and career academies.

GAR is providing a half-million dollar grant to support teacher development, student leadership and communications.

Kirstin Toth is the Senior Vice President of the GAR Foundation. She said the foundation has received positive feedback from teachers about hands-on opportunities they’ve funded in the past.

The foundation has helped fund other hands-on learning in the past.

“They’re really starting to see it as a part of their normal and their typical professional development. It’s just one more way for them to immerse themselves in experiential learning for themselves and for their students.”

Toth said the program isn’t about the teachers relearning their skills, but giving them extra tools and support to make connections between industries their students are interested in and the classroom.

Earlier this spring, the district received another $500,000 grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation to begin mapping a plan that transforms the way middle school students learn and interact with the community.