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HCS receives a $37,500 CTE equipment grant from the Virginia Department of Education


Hampton City Schools is the recipient of a career and technical education (CTE) grant for $37,500 from the Virginia Department of Education. This grant provides funds for equipment including 4-axis robotic arms, a dual extruder 3D printer, a desktop laser cutter, and a desktop computer numerically controlled (CNC) mill for Jones Magnet Middle School (JMS). The equipment purchased with grant funds will provide opportunities for exposing students to high-skill, high-demands including increasing exposure to non-traditional career pathway opportunities for female students.


The equipment will primarily be used to align with competencies in courses Inventions and Innovations and Technological Systems. By learning how to use the equipment, students will learn transferable skills associated with STEM, design manufacturing, entrepreneurship, programming, and more. Students will utilize the equipment to explore tools for innovation, design and creativity, and apply the engineering design process, evaluate prototypes, and determine the best technological system for their final product. 


Finally, the reach of this equipment will go beyond the tasks done in class. The lessons and skills will also serve as a channel to educate the students in their future opportunities. The Academies of Hampton offer HCS high school students’ placement in 16 different career academies aligned to local industry and workforce needs. The skills and knowledge students gain from using the equipment will be supported with career and academy pathway lessons associated with shipbuilding, ship repair, and ship design in the Maritime Academy and Academy of Technology and Engineering at Hampton High School; engineering design and development, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and programming and cybersecurity in the Academy of Cybersecurity, Engineering, and Robotics at Phoebus High School; entrepreneurship and design and technology and engineering in the Academy of Entrepreneurship and Information Design and the Governor's STEM Academy of Architecture, Environment, and Engineering at Kecoughtan High School; and unmanned systems, and programming in the Transportation, Analytics, Information, and Logistics Academy at Bethel High School.

“This equipment can provide benefits for the community, the region, the commonwealth, and even the nation,” shared Seth Black, director of career and technical education. “Shipbuilding, a massive industry in the region and the commonwealth, needs a steady stream of workers to meet the demands of the U.S. Navy’s growing fleet of ships and submarines needed for national defense. Local industries and employers need skilled trades workers, and the future pipeline of advanced manufacturing to fulfill contracts to the shipyards and offshore wind industry. HCS students can be those future workers and leaders of innovation in the industry.”