Santa Rosa, California (June 4, 2014) –

The Career Technical Education (CTE) Fund of Sonoma County will serve as a key partner in the recently announced California Career Pathways Trust grant of $15 million awarded to the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE), as lead agency for the six-county alliance who will benefit from the funding.  A portion of the multi-million dollar state grant will be directed to Sonoma County schools and will help local school districts plan for and develop their career pathway programs, train and coach their teachers, equip their classrooms and provide valuable work based learning coordinators.  This development work at the district level is essential for establishing a “Model CTE Program” that meet the standards for funding from the CTE Fund.

The CTE Fund, a Committee Advised Fund of the Community Foundation Sonoma County, was founded in 2012 by private donors Tony Crabb and Barbara Grasseschi, with a mission to expand and enhance the career technical training and work readiness for Sonoma County students that align with the workforce needs of the County.  Grants from the CTE Fund are primarily at the High School level and focused on developing new CTE programs that align with Sonoma County’s five key economic development industries as identified by the Economic Development Board and include: Advanced Manufacturing (Including STEM), Construction/Green Business, Health Care, Sonoma Wine/Agriculture/Tourism, and Professional and Innovation Services.

The Fund recently announced their second year of approved grants to local high school for CTE programs totaling $213,000 for school year 2014/15.  The Fund has raised over $960,000 since 2012, in donations and pledges through year 2017 from public and private donors.  Following initial pledges from the John Jordan Foundation and the County of Sonoma totaling $505,000 over five years, donations/pledges have nearly doubled the fund’s total and include a combination of private individual, family foundation and corporate gifts.  Other top contributors to the fund include Tony Crabb/Barbara Grasseschi, the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation,

American Ag Credit, Big John’s Market, Gardenworks Inc., Hotel Healdsburg, Kaiser Permanente, Redwood Credit Union, the Soiland Family Fund and Herb/Jane Dwight.

Goals for the coming year include continuing to invest in the expansion of high-quality, new CTE programs at the high school level and developing regional training programs in such industry areas as manufacturing, health care, and construction training.  The regional training approach will provide the necessary course work at the high school level and matriculate to the JC to help fill the pipeline of trained workers for key industry segments of Sonoma County.

Over the two years of granting, a total of ten new CTE programs/courses have been added in the County through six different school districts (seven high schools) largely focused on hands-on learning programs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).  In addition to the STEM programs, also funded are two programs in Agriculture/Culinary and include a first of it’s kind Farm to Table program at Healdsburg High School and a new Plant and Soil Science course at Sonoma Valley High School.  Additional programs were funded at the middle school level offering career exploration opportunities to as many as 1,950 students countywide through the Sonoma County Office of Education.

Additional donations are being sought to further enhance the Fund. “We believe it’s imperative to provide multi-year investments within the education system to support workforce development and economic stability for Sonoma County.  Through our support, the CTE Fund is helping to drive systemic change and create large impacts for schools county-wide,” says Lisa Wittke Schaffner, Executive Director, The John Jordan Foundation.

 For more information regarding the CTE Fund, the grant process and/or if you are interested in supporting the Fund, contact Kathy Goodacre, Executive Director, kgoodacre@ctesonomacounty.org or by calling (707) 537-1679.

Santa Rosa, California (May 8, 2014) –

The Career Technical Education (CTE) Fund, has approved a second year of grants to local high school for CTE programs totaling $213,000 for school year 2014/15.  The Fund has raised over $960,000 since 2012, in donations and pledges through year 2017 from public and private donors.  Following initial pledges from the John Jordan Foundation and the County of Sonoma totaling $505,000 over five years, donations/pledges have nearly doubled the fund’s total and include a combination of private individual, family foundation and corporate gifts.  Other top contributors to the fund include Tony Crabb/Barbara Grasseschi, the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, American Ag Credit, Big John’s Market, Gardenworks Inc., Hotel Healdsburg, Kaiser Permanente, Redwood Credit Union, the Soiland Family Fund and Herb/Jane Dwight.

The CTE Fund, a Committee Advised Fund of the Community Foundation Sonoma County, was founded in 2012 by private donors Tony Crabb and Barbara Grasseschi, with a mission to expand and enhance the career technical training and work readiness for Sonoma County students that align with the workforce needs of the County.  “Our goal is to continue investing in the expansion of high-quality, new CTE programs at the high school level”, expresses Brian Ling, Executive Director of Sonoma County Alliance and Steering Committee Chair/CTE Fund.  “We are also in the planning process with Santa Rosa Junior College to develop regional training programs in manufacturing and health care.  This approach will provide the necessary course work at the high school level and matriculate to the JC to help fill the pipeline of trained workers for two key industry segments of Sonoma County” Grants from the CTE Fund are primarily at the High School level and focused on developing new CTE programs that align with Sonoma County’s five key economic development industries as identified by the Economic Development Board and include: Advanced Manufacturing (Including STEM),

Construction/Green Business, Health Care, Sonoma Wine/Agriculture/Tourism, and Professional and Innovation Services.  “More than seventy percent of students who graduate from Sonoma County public high schools are not eligible to enter a California four-year university or college, “ states Sonoma County Supervisor, Mike McGuire. “Providing quality education, job skills and career training are vital to the success of the Sonoma County economy. The CTE Fund is making hundreds of student’s futures brighter by linking public andprivate dollars to work force development which will help make our communities thrive in the years to come.”

Over the two years of granting, a total of ten new CTE programs/courses have been added in the County through six different school districts (seven high schools) largely focused on hands-on learning programs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).  In addition to the STEM programs, also funded are two programs in Agriculture/Culinary and include a first of it’s kind Farm to Table program at Healdsburg High School and a new Plant and Soil Science course at Sonoma Valley High School.  Additional programs were funded at the middle school level offering career exploration opportunities to as many as 1,950 students countywide through the Sonoma County Office of Education.  (See attached outline of schools and programs approved for grants in 2014/15.)  

Additional donations are being sought to further enhance the Fund. “We believe it’s imperative to provide multi-year investments within the education system to support workforce development and economic stability for Sonoma County.  Through our support, the CTE Fund is helping to drive systemic change and create large impacts for schools county-wide,” says Lisa Wittke Schaffner, Executive Director, The John Jordan Foundation.

For more information regarding the CTE Fund, the grant process and/or if you are interested in supporting the Fund, contact Kathy Goodacre, Executive Director, kgoodacre@ctesonomacounty.org or by calling (707) 537-1679.

Santa Rosa, California (June 10, 2013) –

Six school districts will receive $17,000 to $20,000 a year each renewable up to five years to expand course offerings and workforce training opportunities through Sonoma County’s Career Technology Education (CTE) Fund. The grants are from a fund established in 2012 with the Community Foundation Sonoma County, initially by private donors Tony Crabb and Barbara Grasseschi, for the purpose of supporting educational efforts designed to prepare students to become successful citizens in the 21st century and truly be college and career ready. The fund grew rapidly when the County of Sonoma approved a five year commitment at $50,000 per year, which was equally matched by the John Jordan Foundation, for a total pledge of half a million dollars through 2016. “We know one of the keys to a stronger economy is investing in our local schools and providing high school and college students with access to modern and innovative job skills programs. Local government and the Sonoma County business community are partnering to provide our young people with the workforce tools they need to thrive in this new economy”, Fourth District Supervisor, Mike McGuire says of the County’s support. Additional private donations are being sought to further enhance the fund. “Our vision is to provide more opportunities for students, our future workforce, to experience the hands-on learning and exploration necessary to connect their education to the real world and specifically match with the economic and workforce development needs of Sonoma County,” expresses Tony Crabb, CTE Fund Advisory and owner of Puma Springs Vineyards.

More than 350 Career Technical Education courses are currently offered through 15 Sonoma County high schools and include hands-on training in industry related courses in agriculture, arts, media and communications, automotive, building trades, business, finance, manufacturing, culinary arts, healthcare, energy, information services and retail trade. “To ensure the economic vitality of Sonoma County, we have to invest in local education programs that are aligned with the key economic drivers of our county and to ensure success for all students, from middle school through post secondary education” says Stephen Jackson, Director of Career Development/Workforce Preparation Services, Sonoma County Office of Education. “This includes applying essential academic standards in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) throughout all our CTE courses.”

In addition to funding, the success of the CTE program relies on the strength of private/public partnerships that include the County of Sonoma, Sonoma County Office of Education, Sonoma State University, Santa Rosa Junior College, area school districts, and numerous local employers, sponsors, and organizations.

The following school district CTE programs have been selected:

Healdsburg Unified School District – Farm to Table Course. This grant would provide additional funding for staff and to integrate CTE curriculum and offer a Farm to Table course co-taught by two CTE teachers in the areas of Culinary Arts and Agriculture.

Petaluma Joint Union High School District – Engineering Technology. The High School seeks to attract students to their Industrial Technology program who are capable of high-level theoretical academic work and who are interested in STEM areas such as engineering technology. The funding will cover the teacher, textbooks and other instructional materials as well as a supply budget for the course.

Santa Rosa City High School District – CTE Project Make-Applied Lab Implementation. This grant will allow for Santa Rosa City Schools to expand upon its Linked Learning initiatives by providing funding for the implementation of a CTE Project Make – Applied Lab to be linked with an already existing core Physics Course at Piner High School.

Sonoma Valley Unified School District – Engineering Design and Technology Linked Learning
Pathway. The High School offers an Engineering, Design and Technology linked learning pathway elective, Introduction to Engineering and will add Principles of Engineering course next Fall (2013). This funding will support both electives courses and related expenses associated with Work-based Learning – including internships, externships, transportation and other related expense West Sonoma County Unified High School District – Project Make. Project Make is an innovative, hands on curriculum where student explore and create project-based activities to foster their ingenuity. This 21st century learning course is designed to allow students opportunities to build, design, and develop ideas from conception to developmental planning stages to finished product. This class has been featured on CNN as a modern day shop class for students and enhances student’s interest in science and math.

Windsor Unified School District – STEM CTE Course and Establishment of a Regional MESA Program. This grant application has TWO interrelated areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) focus: 1) To fund the CTE STEM course created by Project Lead the Way called Principles of Engineering and Design, which will be taught in the Windsor High AXIS STEM ACADEMY for 10th, 11th, & 12th Graders. 2) To establish a North County Regional MESA Program (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) which participates in local and national MESA competitions. The CTE fund Advisory Committee plans to raise an additional $140,000 this year with hopes of raising $500,000 a year within the next five years. The funding cycle begins in January of each year with requests for proposals going out to area high schools with grants awarded the following July to prepare for program implementation in the fall.