State Sen. Lisa M. Boscola, D-18th, recently announced the Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded a $24,600 Career and Technical Education Equipment Grant to Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School.

“Our vocational-technical schools play a critical role in producing the workforce of today and tomorrow,” Boscola said. “In the last number of years, our commonwealth has recognized the need to better provide our students with a career and technical education that provides them options and trains them for the demands of a 21st-century economy. This equipment grant to the Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School further demonstrates the commonwealth’s partnership with our career and technical centers to ensure students are prepared to enter the 21st-century job market or provides them the academic foundation to seek higher education in STEM.”

The grant awarded to BAVTS joins a total of $1.2 million grants awarded by the DOE across the commonwealth to 33 career and technical centers and two school districts to purchase new equipment aligned to training students in high-demand occupations. Grant awards, matched dollar for dollar from a local source, include local school funds or contributions from business and industry partners.