CTE director highlights YouScience gains, Perkins funding and regional partnerships

Mark Barton, a CTE instructor active in the district, told the South Sanpete School District board on Aug. 13 that the district has stepped up use of the YouScience platform and other CTE measures to better track student growth and connect students to postsecondary partners. "I'm gonna purchase that again this year and just expect all teachers to do a pretest and a posttest," Barton said, describing plans to measure progress and report gains.

Barton said the district saw a notable increase in certifications and pretests last year — a superintendent message noted a "25% increase district wide" in YouScience usage — and described multiple regional initiatives backed by Perkins funding. He said the district receives $45,000 annually from the federal Perkins grant and that regional Perkins allocations have supported pathway coordination, professional‑development incentives and equipment purchases. "Out of that Perkins money, about 40% goes towards pathway coordination within the region, and South Sanpete gets about 14% of that," Barton said.

Barton outlined steps to strengthen articulation with Snow College and other postsecondary partners, pilot youth apprenticeships (three students signed up for fall apprenticeships), and expand competency‑based offerings such as CDL and electronics. He also described efforts to make early credentials and concurrent enrollment more visible to students and parents, and to improve teacher incentives and buy‑in. Board members praised the presentation and asked about parent outreach and teacher participation; Barton said regional supports and targeted incentives are driving higher teacher engagement.