Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center was among several schools across the state to receive a Schools-to-Work Program (STWP) grant to support new partnerships between schools, employers, organizations, or associations to create employment and training career paths for students. The center received $245,715 to buy additional equipment for the pre-apprenticeship program and increase the number of industry-recognized qualifications offered to pre-apprentices in the program. The goals are to increase training opportunities for pre-apprentices on additional pieces of equipment, and to increase safety by offering additional industry-recognized qualifications. Both will better equip pre-apprentices with the skills needed to successfully transition to the registered apprenticeship sponsor, improve pre-apprenticesâ scores on the NOCTI end-of-program assessment, and fill current and anticipated labor market needs in the Westmoreland-Fayette workforce region for operating engineers.