Education Resources Blog

Trying to figure out how to best spend your Career & Technical Education funding - or use other funding for career & technical education programs? Let's take a look at some options.

Now, don't panic yet...but ESSER I funding is expiring on September 30th, 2022. It's "use it or lose it" crunch time. ESSER II funding ends September 30th, 2023. ESSER III funding ends September 30th, 2024. According to a FutureEd analysis, most schools focused on spending their funding dollars on academic recovery, staffing, and school facilities and operations. Followed by technology, mental and physical health supports, and other miscellaneous financials, you, of course, have lots to consider as you determine how to finalize your spending of these precious funds.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) may have taken a backseat during the isolation of the pandemic, with less opportunities for collaboration and hands-on learning, but the possibilities of futures for these students are still unlimited, and our responsibilities as educators to help them fulfill those have not changed. As we at VariQuest feel passionately about preparing students for their futures and full potentials, we've gathered together some resources to help you not only build a successful CTE program, but continue its evolution as industries and times change.

By now, you've probably heard about "makerspaces" and how they're being added in schools across the country - encouraging students of all ages to explore, create, build, tinker, and experiment through hands-on learning. (For a refresher, check out our blog, "What is a Makerspace?") STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math) learning is important to us here at VariQuest, because we know it's important to you. And a makerspace is a great solution for creating an environment conducive to this methodology - with the space being as high- or low-tech as your imagination (or funds) can reach! As your first step, how about a free ebook, helping you consider what's necessary to build one in your school? Well, we've got that, right here for you! "How to Build a Makerspace: A Guide for Educators Striving to Build Student Success Through Hands-On Learning" will discuss...

If we all held unlimited monetary resources, there's no end to what we would provide for "our kids." There are many professions far more lucrative than those in education - but for the most part, you aren't doing it for the money, you're doing it for the intangible reward of helping students learn. And with schools trying to provide so much with so little, choices are forced to be made. And that's why, according to a survey of 1,800 public and private school teachers following the 2015-2016 school year, the average American teacher spends $600 of his/her own money every year on basic supplies. With this in mind, we at VariQuest, being passionate about education, want to help. There are many federal, state, and private funding streams available for any number of projects in schools, and the process of applying can be intimidating, so we've developed a free guide to help you learn how to write a grant.

Engaging students in a meaningful learning experience is the ideal goal of an educator. Providing every learner with a hands-on, eyes-on, ears-on, and minds-on activity amplifies the learning process and ensures student achievement. STEM, or Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math - is the most talked-about education methodology today - an opportunity for students to envelop themselves in learning that not only teaches them core subject competencies, but also connects those teachings to real-world, meaningful applications. You may have heard the word "makerspace" mentioned in conversations around how to offer an engaging, hands-on learning experience. But what exactly is, a makerspace?

"In the coming years, we should build on that progress by...offering every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one." -President Barack Obama, 2016 State of the Union Address It's no secret that there's money in STEM. With related jobs in higher demand than ever before, these fields offer a lucrative career path for interested individuals. But when only 51% of US school districts are cognizant of the $7 billion behind STEM, therein lies the secret that merits promulgation. Billions. That's nine zeros. Before the decimal point.