Educator Workforce Academy awarded grant to help bridge the gap between businesses, schools

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WBRC) - A group tasked with helping businesses address workforce needs in west Alabama has been rewarded for doing a good job, receiving a grant that will make on of its signature programs easier on participants.

West Alabama Works was awarded a $3,000 grant from Enterprise Mobility Foundation to support its Educator Workforce Academy, a program that bridges the gap between educators and businesses.

Educators such as principals, superintendents, and school board members spend a year learning what businesses need from the workforce and how those needs can be addressed in school systems.

The grant will help people travel to and from some of the places they are learning.

Educators meet with industry leaders and tour facilities like Nucor Steel in Tuscaloosa, McAbee Construction Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa, and others.

“A lot of our educators are actually going through different types of experiences when it comes to going into plants. So a lot of that helps with transportation, with the cost of food, things of that nature,” explained Donny Jones, Executive Director of West Alabama Works.

More than 300 educators from a dozen west Alabama school systems have been a part of the Educator Workforce Academy since it started in 2017 with the latest class starting the program in 2023.

Around 40 people from around west Alabama make up that group.

Once the Academy ends, they will create action plans to present to their superintendents of education and board of education. That plan will be a guide as to how they will use what they learned in the Educator Workforce Academy to enhance their school’s program and help students explore their career path.

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