SPIE INCENTIVE GRANT
***UPDATE***

Please note, ​SPIE will be suspending the $300 Incentive Grant program for the 2023-2024 school year. This program was initially expanded to help incentivize students during distance learning. With the return of students to the classroom, funding has been reallocated to the newly expanded SPIE Career Education Grant program.  We're excited to share that SPIE's education partners now have the opportunity to potentially earn up to a $2,500 grant award! Learn more about the Career Education Grant here.

Moving forward...

SPIE’s grants will all align with our mission and vision. Stanislaus Partners in Education aspires to create economic vitality by supporting efforts to prepare students for rewarding local jobs that offer pathways to a living wage and careers that fulfill their potential. 

We do this by: 

• Inspiring and facilitating partnerships between educators, employers, and community stakeholders; and 
• Actively encouraging locally targeted career education.

Our vision is that Stanislaus County will be an educated and skilled community that has a qualified and engaged workforce. We are deeply invested in supporting educators in their career education efforts and we do this through our Career Education Grant and our Educator Internship Program to name a few examples.

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SPIE believes...

​Career awareness and education can begin even as early as Kindergarten. We understand that our Incentive Grants have been successful in motivating students, and we would like to encourage you to reimagine your incentive program to include career awareness. Teachers will have an opportunity to request between $500-$2,500 for their grant. You will be awarded the amount depending on how robust your Career Education plan is. 

​Many of you are already teaching job skills whether intentionally or unintentionally. We are encouraging you to be explicit in explaining that the skills you are teaching can also apply to job readiness. For example, if you are teaching students how to create a spreadsheet, make them aware that knowing how to use Excel or Google Sheets is an asset on their resume. If students are participating in an English class, have them do a book report on someone whose career they admire and aspire to emulate. If you are teaching leadership students, make them aware of what types of careers and roles they can apply for with their leadership skills and how to describe those skills when applying for a job. If you are teaching public speaking, have students do mock job interviews with each other. You can apply your incentive program in a number of ways where your students can still earn incentives, and also gain valuable career education at the same time.

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SPIE Incentive Grants reimagined...

We would like to share some examples of how you can reimagine your incentive program to incorporate career awareness. Please note, these are just suggestions that you can elaborate on and make age-appropriate.
 
Kindergarten-6th grade:
Educators can purchase incentive items and students can work towards earning the incentives. Students can keep a “Job Journal”. A certain amount of journal entries will allow the student to draw from the incentive bucket monthly or weekly. Kinder students can draw pictures of jobs that they are interested in. They can think of a new job every week. 1st-2nd grade students can add sentences to share about their career interests. Older students can start to research online what skills are needed to work in their chosen careers and create a job board. Students can share with the classroom about their findings and their interests.

​Middle School & High School:
Students can earn incentives by participating in online career aptitude tests such as You Science. Many school districts already have memberships in these types of career awareness programs. If you’re not sure, ask CTE teachers at your school if they have access. If not, encourage your school to invest in one or find a free career aptitude test online. Students can earn incentives by participating in career fairs but in a meaningful way. Create a passport where students have to visit a certain number of booths and engage in conversation with booth hosts. Students can earn incentives by actively engaging in the career fair and sharing their findings with the class. Students can gain information such as:

• How much training does it take to get certified in your field?
• What is the pay scale?
• What hard skills are needed to work in your field?
• What soft skills are needed to work in your field?

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APPLY FOR CAREER EDUCATION GRANT ***HERE***

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