ARANSAS PASS, Texas — The Aransas Pass Independent School District is continuing to grow.
The school district was awarded $1.4 million in grants. They applied for the money to expand its welding and healthcare programs.
Right now, there are about 50 students enrolled in these programs. But as the demand for these industries continue, the school district expects more enrollment numbers.
Through these grants, the school district will have more equipment and lab space to teach students about these different job industries.
Right now, the cafeteria in the vacated elementary school building is being used as a health science lab. The gym is being turned into a welding lab.
Students have been utilizing these labs since this school year. With the additional funding, they can expand these labs.
"We want to make sure we're strong and really supporting our families," said school superintended Cara Cooke. "Not just our students, but our families. And so with having these state of the art labs and having the access we'll be able to do some amazing things as we move forward in the future."
Because Aransas Pass ISD is a smaller school district, they depend heavily on funding like this.
"We may have to work a lot harder for it and we may have to work together to write grants and go after that and be aggressive in finding the funds, but we're willing to do that because we believe in our students and we want them to have the best possible future." said Cooke.
