Worthington Independent School District 518 has been notified that it has received a grant award of $190,000 to be allocated over a five-year period from the Minnesota Department of Education for the “Grow Your Own” pathway for adults.
This pathway provides opportunities in offering teacher education licensure programs in Early Childhood and Family Education to candidates that live in the District 518 boundaries (Bigelow, Reading, Rushmore, Wilmont, and Worthington) or are employed by District 518.
The grant funding will assist students pursuing degrees or certification for a Birth to 3rd Grade or Parent Educator Licensure. This funding will help students in moving towards certification, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree and credentials. The grant will help improve future employees’ earning power in early childhood education fields.
"District 518 is excited that four students have already received funding to help with their summer courses," a district press release on Tuesday stated.
Funding for the upcoming fall semester is available by application due on July 31. For more information, contact Sharon Johnson, Community Education Director at sharon.johnson@isd518.net or (507) 376-6105.
The grant request and award will assist due to the need identified by Worthington Public Schools for more teachers -- and particularly for more teachers of color -- to better reflect the students in District 518, which is one of the most diverse districts in the state of Minnesota. District 518 has worked for more than 10 years to collaborate in providing pathways for its own local students to reduce barriers in the pathway toward the teaching profession, especially with Early Childhood and Family Education, Elementary, or Teachers of English as a Second Language. Those collaborations include Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, Southwest Initiative Foundation and the Nobles County Integration Collaborative.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the 2023 Legislature passed the Grow Our Own Early Childhood and Family Educator Grant last spring as an expansion of the existing Grow Our Own Program, which introduces high school students to the profession and supports adult learners who are pursuing an education degree or credentials.
