Two career and technical education programs within Chesterfield County Public Schools won recognition in the Virginia Department of Education’s Creating Excellence Awards in June 2023:
- The Virginia Governor’s Academy for Engineering Studies at Bird High won the Secondary CTE Program Award for Region 1. The Virginia Governor’s Academy for Engineering Studies provides a program of studies that allows exploration of engineering career fields while building student understanding of the core skills necessary for postsecondary education. Rigorous curriculum and lab experiences prepare students for rapidly changing, technology based fields.
- Chamber Chesterfield/Chamber RVA won both the Region 1 and the statewide Secondary Business and Industry Partnership Award for their support of work-based learning in Chesterfield County Public Schools. The chambers embraced the Chesterfield County Public Schools initiative by providing thousands of work-based learning experiences and tens of thousands of work-based learning experience hours. During the 2021-22 school year, Chamber Chesterfield and Chamber RVA led 241 local business partners in providing permanent connections beyond work-based learning experiences for graduating seniors. More than 80 business partners reached 500+ students through a student job fair, resulting in 351 full-time employment contracts being offered to students worth approximately $12.2 million in economic impact to the Chesterfield region.