Ralston High School was awarded a $20,000 Makers Grant through the Stanley Black and Decker Empower Makers Global Impact Challenge. This grant will help fund the equipment necessary to begin the RHS Construction Crew class at Ralston High School. This first Construction Crew class will start in the fall of the 2023-2024 school year.

This will be a capstone CTE course that allows students to participate in work-based learning in the Ralston community. Students will complete residential construction projects under the guidance and supervision of Mr. Becklun.

Initiated in 2021, the Global Impact Challenge grant program will award up to $25 million in grant funding over five years to nonprofits that are supporting trade workforce development initiatives in the construction and manufacturing sectors. With the first applications submitted in 2022, 182 entrants were evaluated based on number of people served, outcomes projected, sustainable impact, depth of programs, and diversity, among many other considerations. The Ralston High School Construction Crew was selected as one of 91 programs that will help skill and reskill roughly 210,448 makers throughout 2023.

We can’t wait to highlight all of the exciting things that will come from Mr. Becklun, the students, and this program next year!