PEORIA, Ill. – Illinois Central College is heading up a brand new effort to get high school students and high school graduates experience and training in the working world.
It’s called “Employ Central Illinois” – a $3 million federal grant bringing trades unions, Peoria, Pekin, and Illini Bluffs School Districts, the Peoria County Regional Office of Education, and others together to give students access to dual credit courses in trades, career pathways, and apprenticeships, among other things, in various job fields.
“We will develop a model around urban, suburban, and rural high schools, with these integrated work experiences pathwaying [sic] into an apprenticeship,” said Sheila Quirk-Bailey, ICC president. “And if we weren’t being innovative, that probably would be where the grant would end. But, we are trying to innovate and create a regional ecosystem.”
One that Quirk-Bailey says will help employers and students meet their job needs.
She calls that a “game changer.” Meanwhile, a high school instructor uses the word “transformative,” and a good compliment to what her school already does.
“We continue to increase the number of both dual-credit options in collaboration with ICC, as well as the number of work-based learning and apprenticeship opportunities at our students’ fingertips,” said Jennifer Anderson, College and Career Advisor, Pekin Community High School. “Pekin High School sees the value in providing coursework in these career pathways, knowing that our students are the future workforce we are all relying on, as the number of skilled laborers decreases.”
ICC officials say the grant covers three years, but they hope it will prove to work so well it can be renewed for another two.