(Santa Ana, CA)—Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) was recently awarded a $6 million grant from the California Career Pathways Trust 2014-2019.  RSCCD is among the 40 consortia representing thousands of students statewide that are the first recipients of grants under the new $250 million program designed to help students stay in school and move toward college and employment in high-demand fields. This one-time $250 million competitive grant program, spearheaded by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, was part of the state’s 2013-14 budget.

The grant will support the Orange County Teacher Pathway Partnership (OC TPP) that targets the Careers in Education (CIE) program of study for the education, child development, and family services industry sector. The local consortium includes Santiago Canyon College (SCC), Santa Ana College, Fullerton College, five K-12 school districts—Orange, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Anaheim, and Fullerton. California State University, Fullerton (CSUF); JPL/NASA; Project Tomorrow; Anaheim Achieves; Think Together; the City of Fullerton; OUSD Cares; the Fullerton Collaborative; the Anaheim Workforce Investment Board (WIB); the Santa Ana WIB and Cal-PASS Plus are business and community partners.

“The vision of the Orange County Teacher Pathway Partnership is to provide multiple opportunities to students for employment and education as they persist along the Careers in Education Pathway,” said Janis Perry, lead project specialist and SCC professor of counseling and teacher education. “Through the OC TPP over 1,000 students will participate in a robust CIE Pathway program leading to high-wage, high-growth, and high-skill occupations helping to fill the need for California’s anticipated shortage of well prepared teachers.”

The California Career Pathways Trust grant will fund the following student support services and educational opportunities through the Orange County Teacher Pathway Partnership:

• OC TPP community college students enrolled at Fullerton College, Santa Ana College, and Santiago Canyon College will be supported with dedicated counseling and academic advisement, student support services, and will complete courses on the CIE pathway toward certificate, associate degree, and transfer completion. Community college students will also be given the opportunity to participate in the Summer STEM Institute at CSUF, annual campus “Future Teacher” conferences and field trips offered through JPL/NASA’s Education Division.
• One of the project’s goals is to prepare future teachers with extensive field experience, beginning in high school and community college. Students will be provided pre-professional training lessons through institutes with CSUF faculty and the JPL/NASA Education Division. In turn, these students will teach the lessons to youth in After School/Out of School Time programs throughout Orange County.
• Project Tomorrow will offer curriculum and teacher professional development through Youth Teach2Learn “capstone” courses on high school campuses for high school credit. These classes integrate math/science standards and field placement of high school students to teach math and science to elementary school students.
• The Santa Ana and Anaheim WIBs will provide referrals to the OC TPP, assist with the identification and development of employment skills, provide up-to-date labor market information for K-12 teachers, aides, After School/Out of School program assistants and others.
• SCC will assist OUSD with expanding the CIE pathway program of study at Orange and El Modena High Schools and will develop new CIE pathway programs of study at Villa Park and Canyon High Schools. SCC will promote articulation of high school courses for college credit and provide dual enrollment courses at the high school campuses. SCC OC TPP staff will provide counseling and academic advisement, tutoring and workshops, SCC future teachers as peer mentors and other student support services.
• Santa Ana College will assist Santa Ana Unified School District and Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) with developing CIE pathway programs of study with Century High School’s TEACH Academy and launch a CIE program in a high school in the GGUSD.
• Fullerton College will assist Anaheim Union High School District and Fullerton Joint Union High School District with integrating academic skill development into their CIE related pathway courses to improve students’ college readiness and to prepare them to enter and succeed in dual enrollment CIE courses offered by the college.

For more information about the Orange County Teacher Pathway Partnership, contact Janis Perry at (714) 628-4779.

About Rancho Santiago Community College District
Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College are public community colleges of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, which serves the residents of Anaheim Hills, Garden Grove, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Villa Park.  Both colleges provide education for academic transfer and careers, courses for personal and professional development, and customized training for business and industry.