UPPER PENINSULA – Fourteen UP applicants will receive funding for 17 new state-approved CTE programs to help meet rising student demand and regional labor needs, thanks to a share of the $24.2 million in Career and Technical Education expansion grants allocated by the Michigan Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer through the Michigan Department of Education.

Historically, CTE programs have been reserved for high school students. However, the latest funding opens the door to middle school CTE exposure in Michigan for the first time, an opportunity many states still do not offer. The initiative aims to capture the curiosity of younger students, particularly in the Upper Peninsula, where a wave of funding for 11 out of 17 new CTE programs in the UP will be dedicated to providing middle schools with the Manufacturing and Engineering Education Reimagined for All program.

Engaging students in grades 6-8 with the MEERA competency-based manufacturing education program is designed to inspire the next generation of America’s manufacturing workforce. Districts will be incorporating middle school learning labs with hands-on, industry-aligned experiences. Middle school teachers from each school district will first train at a new MEERA-UP Regional Training Center and become part of its professional network. The RTC is set to be located at the Bay College-Iron Mountain Campus.

“There are six Career Education Planning District administrators, or CEPDs, that work collectively where we can on behalf of career education opportunities for students across the UP,” said Corey Soumis, CTE Director for the Copper Country ISD and Michigan CEPD [Career Education Planning District] 02 Administrator for Baraga, Houghton, and Keweenaw Counties. “For the middle school MEERA initiative in particular, four of us, including Joe Tinti with Dickinson-Iron ISD-CTE for CEPD 03, Erich Ziegler with Marquette-Alger RESA-CTE for CEPD 04, Trent Bellingar with Delta-Schoolcraft ISD-CTE for CEPD 05, and myself, identified a core group of manufacturers from across the Central UP and up into the Copper Country that rely on the skills that the MEERA program introduces. These are skills that could one day provide students, whether directly or indirectly, the opportunity to continue to live and work in the UP.”

“This will be great for students, and of course great for businesses like ours and others across the region, but also great for the UP as a whole,” said Steve Mattson, CEO of Great Lakes Sound and Vibration, a local manufacturer based in Calumet, Michigan, that focuses on the defense sector. Mattson also serves as the chair of the Copper Country ISD-CTE Engineering Design program advisory committee.

The infusion of more than $2.5 Million in funding into middle school MEERA programs across the Copper Country and Central UP was purposely designed by Soumis, Tinti, Ziegler, and Bellingar to create a seamless transition from middle school CTE exploration to high school CTE training and credentialing, and ultimately, to local postsecondary education and career opportunities in advanced manufacturing.

“We saw a huge opportunity for school districts within our CEPDs to have the means to incorporate the MEERA program into their middle schools and to serve a role in the career education ecosystem,” Soumis added. “In the Copper Country alone, there was such overwhelming interest that we had to narrow down who I could initially support and sign off for from CEPD 02, so we all [UP CEPD Administrators] look forward to working with other districts that might be interested in applying in the next round.”

The state’s commitment to CTE continues to grow. “Michigan is experiencing remarkable growth in Career and Technical Education, with a 44% increase in state-approved programs over the last decade–strengthening our workforce pipeline and opening new pathways for students to gain in-demand skills,” said Celena Mills, Director of the MDE Office of Career and Technical Education, in the press release released by the MDE.

A complete list of the 87 grants approved for 56 Michigan school districts can be found on the MDE website.