ALCOA, Tenn. — Governor Bill Lee was in East Tennessee visiting several high schools and colleges on Friday.
He has been promoting the GIVE program. The $25 million grant was passed earlier this year and expands career and technical education for students across the state.
Lee announced projects receiving funding through the Governor's Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) program which prioritizes learning opportunities in rural counties and enhances career and technical education statewide.
One of Lee's stops Friday was at Alcoa High School.
He spoke to students and toured the Mechatronics Lab.
Students enjoyed seeing Lee.
They showed him what they had worked on in class.
"You learn to follow instructions," student Alex Birdwell said. "You learn to do neat stuff."
Their hands are their main tools in class.
"This class is amazing," student Samantha Townsend said. "It's my favorite class."
And their class adds to their toolbox every day.
"I'm enjoying the class--doing more projects and the whole nine yards," student Devon McCall said.
"I learned how to wire stuff together," student Chris Perez said.
I'm a lot more helpful around the house."
Mechatronics students at Alcoa High School are preparing for a career in a technical field, but they weren't prepared for the size of Governor Bill Lee's entourage.
"He looked very important because when he sat down, he had all those people around him," student Dustin Miller said.
"I was happy to be with them. They're excited about what they're doing and what their future holds," Lee said. "It will change the ways high schools look, I believe, and add more vocational, technical and agricultural education across Tennessee."
Lee said the grant helps rural Tennessee students by prioritizing counties with high poverty rates and a true need for workforce development.
"It really does provide in rural communities, as well as in urban centers, opportunities for kids that they didn't have before," Lee said. "I think any time that we can invest in our rural counties, it's going to actually help our cities and our urban centers as well."
"It's made me think a little more about what I want to do with my life," Birdwell said.
Earlier this year, the General Assembly approved the $25 million in the governor's budget to incentivize collaboration at the local level among stakeholders such as higher education institutions, K-12 and economic development partners.
The award process began in June when the Tennessee Higher Education Commission issued a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP). Each proposal was required to show local data that clearly identified both workforce needs and a sustainable plan utilizing equipment, work-based learning experiences, or recognized industry certifications to increase the state's competitiveness and postsecondary attainment goals.
The program prioritized economically distressed and at-risk counties in the RFP process. The 28 funded projects will serve all economically distressed counties and 18 of the 24 at-risk counties.
The Appalachian Regional Commission index of economic status categorizes counties as at-risk or distressed based upon their three-year average unemployment rate, per capita market income, and poverty rates. Distressed counties rank among the 10% most economically distressed in the nation while at-risk counties rank between the bottom 10% and 25% of the nation's counties.