Maryville, TN – April 13, 2023 – Aztec Municipal School District (AMSD) in New Mexico has been awarded a grant from the US Education Department to support academic and economic success for Native American students in rural, high-poverty areas of northwest New Mexico.
The Department’s Indian Education Discretionary Grant Programs: Native Youth Community Program will invest almost $500,000 over three years in the Career-Connected Learning for Native Youth (CCLNY) project serving students at Aztec High School and the Bureau of Indian Education’s Kinteel Residential Campus. This grant helps Aztec uniquely respond to the call from the White House to expand career-connected learning options for students.
In the 2022-2023 school year, Aztec launched 11 school wide Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways aligned to regional in-demand, high-value careers, including the culturally relevant Educators Rising program that raises teachers from within students’ communities. The district is committed to ensuring equitable access and success for Indigenous students, who make up 20% of the school’s population.
CCLNY embeds innovative career exploration and math curricula within well-constructed career pathways, offering career-relevant, work-based learning opportunities, capstone projects with local industries, and dual enrollment courses to accelerate students toward valuable college credentials and degrees and ultimately to quality occupations.
NS4ed has been awarded the CCLNY grant evaluation role and will conduct a thorough evaluation of the design, implementation, and outcomes for Native students. The evaluation will help cultivate a broader understanding of how to best support Native students in Career and Technical Education pathways and evaluate the impact of career-connected learning for Indigenous students.
About CCLNY: The CCLNY project aims to transform the economic trajectory of Aztec’s Native American students for generations to come and serve as a model for other pueblos and tribal communities across the state.
About Pathway2Careers: NS4ed is passionate about making education relevant so learners fully engage. The educational research, services and development company delivers effective, engaging sole source solutions in professional development services, customized labor market data, career exploration tools, and mathematics & career-connected learning curricula. NS4ed invests in quality measures to ensure its innovative solutions provide exceptional student experience, comprehensive learning, and support best practices in teaching.
