...with today’s technological trends, the Community College of Aurora (CCA) was recently awarded a $430,000 JumpStart Grant by the Metro Denver Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative. The WIRED Initiative is a multi-year project that was awarded $15 million from the U.S. Department of Labor. The primary goal of the WIRED Initiative is to develop a pipeline of workers for the region’s four fastest growing industries (Bioscience, Aerospace, Information Technology and Energy).
CCA’s project, A Replicable Model for Higher Education to Engage and Prepare High School Faculty and Staff in Emerging Technology, will assist high school teachers by providing training and materials that bring students hands-on instruction in molecular biology, as well as information about careers in the bioscience industry. The project builds on a National Science Foundation grant awarded to CCA in 2001.
Partners on the project include an impressive list of business, industry, education, and community partners along the Front Range. The project will serve school districts in Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties. Industry and community partners include: Adams County Education Consortium; Arapahoe Douglas Works!; Aurora Chamber of Commerce; Aurora Economic Development Council; Colorado BioScience Association; Colorado Community College System; Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority; Metropolitan State College; Regis University; and the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.
