CCTC Receives Nearly $300k in Grant Funding for Literacy, Safety Upgrades

Collins Career Technical Center Receives Two State Grants Totaling Nearly $300,000 to Support Literacy Programs and Upgrade Campus Safety

CHESAPEAKE, OH (Nov. 30, 2022) -  The state of Ohio has awarded nearly $300,000 in grant funds to support the improvement of literacy programs and safety upgrades at Collins Career Technical Center.

The Reaching All Students Through Language and Literacy sub-grant provides $200,000 for developing a state-wide literacy program aimed at addressing learning gaps from educational disruptions caused by the pandemic. CCTC was one of twenty-five districts to receive the funding, which primarily focuses on students of color, English learners, and students from rural regions of Ohio. “Teachers are working hard, but we know the pandemic slowed student learning,” said Adam Pittis, the district’s superintendent. “These funds will strengthen CCTC’s position as a leader in addressing the learning gaps students have faced in our part of the state.”

Staff members at CCTC will join educators from the other twenty-four award recipients to participate in eight training sessions provided by the Ohio Department of Education. Once complete, these districts will begin a project to develop a state-wide literacy support network for Ohio schools. Teachers will be equipped with strategies that include understanding language and dialect in the classroom, family and community engagement, and drawing on and building students' background knowledge and vocabulary to improve reading outcomes.

The district was also awarded $91,850 as part of the Ohio K-12 School Safety Grants Program. These funds will update surveillance systems in and around the main campus buildings and implement measures to reduce line of site visibility from the outside. According to Superintendent Pittis, the district had already begun upgrading surveillance at the main campus over the summer break. “This money will go a long way to upgrading the technology of our surveillance system. The window film was a project we had already started. The grant allows us to free up that money for some of our other priorities.” Each portion of the upgrades will improve the district’s vulnerability score; a standardized measurement used to determine school campus safety.

Air Quality Upgrades on CCTC Campuses

Dear Collins Career Technical Center families and faculty,

A new school year is upon us, and I look forward to starting a new school year filled with endless opportunities for growth, academic success, and memorable experiences. I am pleased to remind you, our valued school community, of our recent investment to support the health and well-being of everyone who enters our buildings. Last year, our school district installed state-of-the-art air purification units in common areas throughout our facilities, including classrooms, offices, and more.

Our partnership is with Protect|ED, a trusted medical-grade device company that provides NanoStrike™ units that disinfect our air, beyond the capabilities of HVAC filters that simply capture pathogens. Instead, NanoStrike™ destroys them at the cellular level.

Our children and team deserve to breathe clean air. Over the course of a K-12 education, a child will spend more than 15,000 hours at school. Even when cleaned to high standards, classrooms, cafeterias, labs, and offices can contain chemical and biological contaminants.

We knew we could do better. With the realities of the ongoing pandemic, school districts like ours are turning their attention to air quality – an area that has largely been overlooked and underfunded in school buildings for decades. The time was right for us to make this critical change; thankfully, federal funds were available to help. 

The well-being of our school community has always been our top priority, and our students deserve to learn in a place where their health is nurtured alongside their intellectual growth, social engagement, and emotional well-being. Likewise, supporting our faculty and staff is equally important to ensure we best support our students – keeping everyone engaged and learning in the classroom. Our valued partnership with Protect|ED helps us live out this commitment.

Additionally, we know from Harvard University researchers that clean air sharpens cognitive ability, improving test scores and helping students focus.

This air purification option stood out to our leadership for several reasons. First, NanoStrike™ is supported by science and embraced by the medical community. It is used by respected institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic because of its efficient inactivation technology. Clinical studies have shown how Nanostrike™ can reduce certain viruses and pathogens by up to 99.9 percent. It goes far beyond COVID-19, defending against typical school germs such as influenza, noroviruses, strep, cold viruses, allergens, and more. The slim and lightweight devices are extremely quiet and will not disrupt our learning environment.

We look forward to seeing the benefits of this decision unfold in the coming year in our students' health, wellness, and academic experiences.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Have a Great Year!

Adam M. Pittis, Superintendent

Collins Career Technical Center