Marion School District receives $186,000 grant to establish carpentry program

Marion County Public Schools received a $186,276 grant from the Pathways to Career Opportunities program established by the Florida legislature.

The grant allows Marion Technical College (MTC) to partner with the Marion County Building Industry Association to develop a new carpentry apprenticeship program to meet the community’s local construction needs. 

Once up and running, the construction program at MTI will become a carpentry pre-apprenticeship site which feeds into the MTC program.

The grant helps recruit and hire a program manager, establish program standards, purchase curriculum and classroom equipment, and implement a marketing plan. 

The MTC program is expected to open in spring 2020 with 15 apprentices.  The carpentry program joins MTC’s long-established electrical apprenticeship program and its recently-opened masonry apprenticeship program.  The school hopes to add additional construction-related programs for HVAC and plumbing in the future.

For more information, contact Mark Vianello, executive director of Career and Technical Education, at Mark.Vianello@marion.k12.fl.us or 352.671.6868.  You can also visit www.fldoe.org/pathwaysgrant/ for additional details.