Career and Technical Education (CTE)

What is CTE?

Future Forward

CTE is partnering with FutureForward, where education meets opportunity. FutureForward facilitates connections, promotes industry-specific events, empowers users to enhance their career-connected learning experiences, and hosts a jobs board with opportunities for job shadowing, internships, and mentorships for high school students.

NESC is excited to partner with Southeast Service Cooperative, South Central Service Cooperative, and Resource Training & Solutions to broaden access to FutureForward for our regional students, educators, parents, and employers.

NESC looks forward to engaging with all of our regional schools and employers for their participation in FutureForward. Visit the FutureForward website or this flyer for more information.

Exciting News! The launch and implementation of FutureForward has begun. This powerful, FREE tool is designed to invest and amplify connections and collaborations between students, educators, and local employers, offering unparalleled access to career opportunities and resources.

We are proud to announce a new grant-funded collaboration with the Minnesota Service Cooperative and the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), providing resources to broaden our scope and implementation efforts. Working with the Southeast Service Cooperative, which has successfully designed and implemented FutureForward in its region, Lisa Kvas and John Engelking will soon be connecting with our school leaders and business partners to guide this implementation.

With FutureForward, we’re unlocking new possibilities through:

Streamlined Connections & Directories for easy access to local businesses and educators
Events & Posting Calendars to keep everyone in the loop about upcoming career-related events
Internships & Mentorship Opportunities to help students gain real-world experience
Powerful Career Resources for students, educators, and employers alike

Together, we share the vision of educating and engaging our partners as we explore and learn the powerful features of FutureForward. Let’s collaborate to create a brighter future for our students, enhance learning opportunities, and strengthen our local workforce. Ready to dive in? Feel free to learn more by contacting:

Lisa Kvas – NESC Regional Coordinator of Planning and Development or John Engelking – NESC Senior Regional Manager for Career and Technical Education

Good News!

We are excited to share some of the amazing stories that have resulted from our program:

Esko High School Kahvia Coffee Company
Kahvia Coffee Company was created as part of the CTE program. The coffee shop is for Esko students (not a public coffee shop) with funds raised going to support the coffee shop and in the future to support other school programs. Here’s a cool video about the shop: Kahvia Coffee Company in Esko, Minnesota for Students (Video Story by The Lift on WDIO)

IASC NEXT Automative & Transportation Pathway Tours
On Thursday, January 30, fifty students from five Itasca Area Schools Collaborative (IASC) high schools toured area businesses as part of a career-connected experience coordinated by the IASC NEXT Career Pathways program.

Dale’s Auto Body, Dondelinger Automotive, and goMARTI, hosted high school students from Bigfork, Floodwood, Hill City, Nashwauk-Keewatin and Northland.

If you have any questions or comments about these tours please contact Scott Patrow, IASC NEXT Career Pathways Director at spatrow@isd6070.org or 218-256-5576.

We would like to thank IRR, Northeast Service Cooperative and True North Stars Perkins Consortium for funding school costs of this event.

South Ridge Work Bench Project

🔨 Building Skills, Building Futures! 🔨

Instructor Nathan Shulstad and his students at South Ridge are proud to showcase their latest projects! Thanks to a partnership with Nathan Zobel from Lake Superior College and grant funding from NESC, students had the incredible opportunity to design, build, and take home their very own workbenches—at no cost to them!

This hands-on experience is more than just a class project—it’s a foundation for future careers in the trades and a lasting tool they can use for years to come. 👏

A huge shoutout to everyone who made this possible! Investing in career and technical education today builds a stronger workforce for tomorrow. 💪 #CTE #SkilledTrades #HandsOnLearning #FutureBuilders #SouthRidge

Business and industry tours are an important part of building a strong automotive and transportation career workforce for the future. Thanks to all participating businesses and teachers who committed to providing this valuable experience for students in the IASC NEXT Construction Career Pathway.

Greenway High School Expands Hands-On Healthcare Training with CPR Manikins

Thanks to the NESC Impact Grant, Greenway High School’s healthcare pathway is enhancing hands-on learning with six CPR manikins! These vital tools help students gain real-world experience in life-saving techniques, ensuring they build confidence and essential skills.

This year, students used the manikins in multiple settings:
✅ 8th Grade Career Exploration Day for scenario-based learning
✅ HOSA morning sessions on cardiac arrest & CPR
✅ Anatomy 3 cardiovascular system training
✅ IB Biology year-end CPR practice

With immediate feedback on compression depth and speed, students refine their skills in a safe, supportive environment—preparing them for future careers and real-life emergencies. #CTE #Healthcare #HandsOnLearning #FutureReady

Moose Lake High School Students Using a New Tool to Create

The Shaper Origin, a CNC router, purchased with NESC funds, has given students access to CNC technology in a way that has a very low barrier to entry. Students are rapidly creating quality joinery, templates, and signage. This is allowing them to create furniture like benches and dining tables with mortise and tenon joinery. Students are also creating signage for use in the school forest coupling their learning in CTE with the MNDNR’s No Child Left Inside initiative. Our efforts have been motivated by input from Morning Star Woodworks in Cloquet who has collaborated with us in acquiring the CNC router.

Impact Grants

We are excited to announce two new rounds of Impact and Innovation Grants to support advancing career-connected exploration and learning to students.

Timeline for Grants for the 2024-2025 Academic Year and Suggested Awards:

Round One Award Grants September 30, 2024 – $125,000 to $150,000
Release Grant Opportunities – June 3, 2024
Deadline for Grants – September 16, 2024

Round Two Award Grants December 20, 2024 – $125,000 to $150,000
Release Grant Opportunities – November 8, 2024
Deadline for Round Two Grants – December 20, 2024

Guidelines for 2024-2025 Impact Grants

Required Assurance Document

CTE Impact Grant Application Form

Lyft Pathways

Launch Your Future Today (LYFT) is a rural career and technical education (CTE) pathway initiative that aims to rebuild CTE in southwest and west central Minnesota. The goal of LYFT Pathways is for every secondary student in the region to gain marketable skills through meaningful CTE courses and opportunities which will lead to further education and careers that match our region’s labor market needs.

Launch Your Future Today (LYFT) Pathways funding is available to high schools (and their partners) to develop shared career and technical education (CTE) courses and programs.

We encourage you to utilize the 3Es Roadmap so students can investigate Exploration, Exposure, and Experience to track your interest and potential journey to careers and success after high school.

Arrowhead Regional Consortium for Healthcare Staffing (ARCHS)

NESC is proud to support and promote the Arrowhead Regional Consortium for Healthcare Staffing (ARCHS). One of the goals at NESC is to continue to focus on connecting students to careers by helping to promote the efforts of ARCHS in the following areas:

Connecting students
Assisting job seekers
Aiding employers
Helping the community

Empow(HER) Camps

This summer, NESC partnered with Minnesota North Colleges, JET Northeast MN, True North Stars Perkins, and the Forge in Grand Rapids to promote their amazing Empow(HER) Girls in the Trade Summer Camps. To promote Empow(HER), NESC partnered with Captivate Media to create and produce a video that captures the inspired experience of students and instructors during the summer Empow(HER) camps. Here’s a link to the YouTube 2024 Summer Empow(HER) experience.