Preston County — The Preston County Economic Development Authority and partners told the Preston County Board of Education on Nov. 10 that an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant is moving from feasibility into implementation, bringing money and staff to connect students with local employers.

Robbie Kelly of the Preston County EDA said the county helped write the original ARC grant and is now hiring staff to implement programs that keep students in the area and expose them to local jobs. "We were one of the entities that helped write the original grant," Kelly said, adding the initiative aims to strengthen ties between education and business so students "don't have to leave our area to find jobs."

Lloyd Ford, work-based learning coordinator at Fairmont State University, described planned activities: job shadows, site visits, weeklong micro-internships during school breaks, summer internships and co-op opportunities. "We have some money in the grant to help schools start a Project Lead The Way," Ford said, noting the program targets juniors and seniors but can extend into middle school through Project Lead The Way modules.

Grant staff said part of the funding will pay for virtual job-shadow technology — including VR headsets and recorded tours of local small businesses — so students can safely explore workplaces that are difficult to visit in person. The team also described a curriculum mini-grant opportunity they characterized as roughly $502,000 for curriculum development and start-up support for new programs.

Board members asked for concrete measures of success. Kelly proposed quarterly updates to the board and recommended tracking internships placed, new industry advisory boards formed, and whether Project Lead The Way is initiated at county schools. "We'd like to see measurable outcomes — have we placed students in internships? Have we initiated Project Lead The Way?" Kelly said.

Superintendent Martin and board members supported the collaboration while asking the EDA to provide a written list of specific next steps for the district. The board did not take a formal vote on the presentation itself, but members instructed staff to continue coordinating with the EDA and university partners and report progress at future daytime meetings.

What’s next: The grant team will deliver handouts and a mini-grant application timeline; the board requested quarterly status updates and a short written list of actions the district should take to enable internships and PLTW adoption.