AMHERST — More hands-on experience in manufacturing for Amherst Regional High School students, along with the expansion of engineering and technology courses and modernizing engineering labs and classrooms, are projects being supported through the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The Healey-Driscoll administration recently announced Amherst Regional as one of 27 high schools newly designated as Innovation Career Pathways, joining 51 high schools that are already part of the program. The governor’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal includes almost $47 million for both the Early College and Innovation Career Pathways programs.

“This IP designation is a great honor and will allow the school to continue to build programs that help students develop in-demand workforce skills and career knowledge along with providing a more direct pathway to employment and advanced education opportunities,” Superintendent Michael Morris wrote in a recent newsletter.

Innovation Career Pathways are designed to give students coursework and work-based learning experiences in high-demand industries, including science, technology, engineering and math fields. In addition to manufacturing, the other pathways are information technology, environmental and life sciences, health care and social assistance, and business and finance.

“When it comes to our students, we want to give them a leg up in preparation for key industries — like health care, computer science, manufacturing and engineering — which is exactly what Innovation Career Pathways achieve,” Healey said in a statement.

Locally, the only other school becoming an Innovation Career Pathways is Athol High School, which like Amherst is focusing on engineering, while Turners Falls High School, already in the program, is adding environmental and life sciences to its pathways.

Morris wrote in his communication with families that the designation allows the school to apply for implementation and capital skills grants that can be used to expand engineering and technology course offerings, upgrade existing engineering labs and classrooms, and hire a community outreach coordinator to coordinate internships and develop other partnerships between the high school and businesses and advanced research programs in the area.

A key component of Innovation Career Pathways is setting up partnerships with industry partners and local MassHire boards to foster work-based learning experiences for students. For Amherst, this means coordinating with the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board in Greenfield.

The district has signed or is in the process of coming to memorandum of understandings with Worthington Assembly, a small electronics manufacturer in South Deerfield, the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, and the L.S. Starrett Co. in Athol, which makes precision measuring tools and saw blades.

Based on its application to the state, Amherst is also in touch about possible educational opportunities that the high school can provide with FTL Labs and Millimeter Wave Systems, both in Amherst.

Students at the school, which draws from Amherst, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury, will have more opportunity to take courses in a specific field, while allowing them to enroll in post-secondary courses to earn industry-recognized credentials at no cost, as well as allowing them to serve in internships in the field. This enables students to gain work experience and insight about whether the field is one they would like to pursue in college or following high school.

To make sure the demographics of students enrolled in the program matches the student body demographics, students will be sought from underserved populations in the STEM field by recruiting from some of the high school’s clubs, including the Minority Student Achievement Network, the Women’s Rights Club, People of Color United, the Gender Sexuality Alliance, Latinos Unidos, and the International Students Club.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>