Washington, DC – On July 13, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced $416,959 from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for the Mountain State Educational Services Cooperative based in Dunbar. The funding will support and expand the organization’s Empowerment Collaborative project, a middle school redesign model currently active in five West Virginia school districts with the goal of innovating the middle school experience for students.
“Every aspect of our education system must focus on enabling West Virginians with the skills and tools they need to succeed,” said Senator Manchin. “I’m pleased the ARC is investing nearly $417K in strengthening the Mountain State Educational Services Cooperative’s Empowerment Collaborative project, which will continue to innovate and improve the middle school experience for our students. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue advocating for resources to ensure every child across the Mountain State has access to a quality education.”
The investment announced today will help the Empowerment Collaborative expand into at least two new middle schools in West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania each, as well as continue to support the current West Virginia models. The project is rooted in nine design protocols which foster an entrepreneurial mindset, facilitate authentic learning and assessment, and transform classrooms into workplaces. Teachers work with students, career and technical educators, and local businesses to design project-based learning experiences where students develop solutions to real-world problems that improve their communities. In addition to ARC funds, state sources will provide $233,514 and local sources will provide $20,000, bringing the total project funding to $670,473.
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