Governor Greg Abbott has announced 152 Jobs and Education for Texas (JET) grants totaling over $54 million have been awarded by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to public, community, state, and technical colleges, school districts, and open-enrollment charter schools across the state.
These grants will be used to purchase necessary equipment to establish or expand career and technical education programs that offer Texas students the opportunity to earn a license, certificate, or post-secondary degree in fields such as nursing, wielding, automotive repair, and dentistry.
“Texas continues to cultivate a highly-skilled, diverse workforce through major investments in career and technical education training programs for our students,” said Abbott. “Through this over $54 million in job training grants, more Texans will have the opportunity to pursue good-paying jobs in high-demand careers across the state. Texas is the land of economic opportunity, and I thank the Texas Workforce Commission for their ongoing efforts to ensure that our students can grow and thrive in our state’s booming economy.”
Through the JET Grant, Honey Grove ISD was able to purchase two boom mounted welders, an iron workers, a hydraulic plate roller, a CNC plasma table, a metal cutting band saw, and a rig roller.
“All of this equipment will more align Honey Grove ISD with industry standards and will help better prepare students for post-secondary careers,” said the school in a press release.
“Over the past several years, Honey Grove ISD has made a conscious effort based on community and student needs to further its career and technology program at its middle school and high school campuses.”
Examples of this include adding Career and Technology Courses for 8th graders who can begin learning about career interest at the middle school instead of waiting until high school, bringing back family and consumer science courses which have been absent for years, and starting fashion design courses.
With the help of the JET grant, students in Agriculture Mechanics classes will benefit from state-of-the-art equipment that will have them ready for the workforce upon graduation.
