Del Tech is expanding its training curriculum with the help of a $3.5 million federal America's Promise grant from the US Department of Labor.
600 under or unemployed Delawareans will be eligible for one of nine new 4-8 month career-training tracks.
“This is about America’s promise," said Delaware senator Chris Coons. “But this is also about the promise of careers in parts of Delaware’s economy where there are jobs going begging.”
Del Tech identified industries where jobs are going begging in the First State, industries like banking, web development and manufacturing.
The school then worked to create new curriculum material to address employment needs of local companies like JP Morgan Chase, Capital One, AstraZeneca and Bloom Energy.
“The industry really informed that curriculum, they actually helped us develop it," said Paul Morris, Assistant Vice President for Workforce Development and Community Education at Del Tech.
Adults in the America’s Promise program will receive training in one of nine new tracks - seven in IT and two in manufacturing.
There will be two manufacturing tracks: industrial maintenance and automation.
The manufacturing curriculum will be modeled after a program already available at First State high schools like William Penn - where Michael Rodriguez is learning automation.
“Instead of like in the olden days when someone was actually doing the work, now you’ve got a single guy programming the work," Rodriquez said. "That’s how far technology went.”
What’s normally a two-year curriculum for high school students will be condensed into eight months for adults.
Seven tracks will be in IT, including Cisco certifications focusing on information security and data insurance, and one in Oracle.
The training programs are also designed to allow working adults to keep their day jobs, with classes held during evenings and on weekends.
