Preparing Maine Students for Careers in High-Skilled Industries

Career and Technical Education programs, or CTEs, equip young people with skills and hands-on experience to make sure they can get good-paying jobs and have rewarding, life-long careers.

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

Despite the important role that CTEs play in the lives of young people and in building a skilled workforce to strengthen our economy, for decades, Maine just didn't modernize or expand these workforce training programs or even provide them with modern, appropriate equipment.

Maine needs more plumbers, more electricians, more truck drivers -- more people overall in the trades -- and that's why I've worked so hard to make historic investments in career and technical education centers throughout my career. In fact, back when I was attorney general, I settled a case with Bath Fitter Company and used the funds from that settlement to begin new plumbing programs at four different Maine high schools. And when I became governor, I continued to make investments in our CTE system so it can serve more students with better equipment.

Through my Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, we've invested $20 million -- federal funds -- to expand career and technical education centers -- the first meaningful investment in decades. That included $4.5 million distributed to 23 different CTE programs to purchase and upgrade equipment so that Maine students are ready for careers in today's highly skilled industries.

Sanford Regional Technical Center used their grant of nearly $117,000 to purchase equipment for their Engineering Architectural Design and Machine Tool programs, among other things. The Sanford School Department was also awarded $321,000 Pre-K expansion grant through My Jobs Plan that funded the construction of three new Pre-K classrooms at Sanford schools and funded the expansion of the Pre-K program at the Sanford CTE from half-day to full-day.

Well, this past week, I visited the Sanford CTE to see how students are doing using the equipment that our investments helped make happen. I had snacks prepared by the culinary arts students as we toured the pre-K learning and early childhood education classrooms. I practiced driving a police car with law enforcement students on a new driving simulator that was paid for by the job plan funds. A really remarkable instrument.

And I visited with students who were learning the building trades like plumbing and electrical, and carpentry, as they worked building a house. I visited the business program, and the video production program, and learned how many kids at the CTE there are earning credits towards college in these programs. I ended the tour by speaking with students in STEM classes, studying things like advanced technology.

I'm so excited to watch as the students I met this week graduate from Sanford Regional Tech and put their new skills to use in good-paying jobs that will make rewarding careers for them and that will benefit our economy overall.

I'm very proud of those students in Sanford and from the area schools, and I'm proud of the nearly 11,000 students at the CTEs--a record high. That's up from 8,000 seven years ago.

My administration will keep doing everything we can to support students of any age to earn the credits and credentials, and certifications, or college degrees they need to succeed in our state and make Maine the best state to live, work, and raise a family.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.