GREENVILLE — Monday morning, the Golden LEAF Foundation announced a $1.25 million grant to support an initiative recommended by Pitt County — the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Academy.

Golden Leaf Foundation President Dan Gerlach said the grant will give 13 Pitt County middle schools, Beaufort County’s P.S. Jones Middle School, and an Edgecombe County charter school money for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) labs. Over a 2-year period, the grant money will be used to renovate and equip the schools with modern technology to implement the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Academy, Gerlach said.

Beaufort County Schools Career and Technical Education Director Stacey Gerard said the Academy will provide P.S. Jones with the equipment to do different project-based learning. Teachers will go through professional development to learn how to effectively teach students the different concepts and how to use the equipment. Gerard said Beaufort County will most likely see implementation in the second year of the grant.

After receiving requests, Pitt County Manager Scott Elliot, who was responsible for approving a project to be submitted to Golden Leaf, selected the Academy and requested Pitt County Schools, Pitt Community College and ECU to collaborate, according to a Pitt County Public Information press release. The successful cross-institutional collaboration is the first of its kind.

“We know that the manufacturers in the region are getting more high-tech and sophisticated as ever and they need a work force that is ready to go,” Gerlach said. “ECU has done a good job in working with the school districts in the area and with Pitt Community College and trying to get together a pipeline of young people interested in these disciplines that will make high wages and allow jobs to be created in eastern North Carolina.”

Both the Academy and associated Master eSTEAM Instructor program are the result of an alliance among middle school parents, students and teachers, PCC, ECU, Pitt County Schools, North East Carolina Prep School in Edgecombe County, P.S. Jones Middle School in Beaufort County, STEM East, economic developers and regional advanced manufacturers, according to the release.

Gerlach said once implemented, the program will provide an effective education-to-workforce pipeline to address the growing shortage of eastern N.C. advanced manufacturing workers and entrepreneurs, technically-skilled in STEAM as well as innovation and entrepreneurship processes.

“We’ve had some research done as we strenuously evaluate all of our grants, especially in this space,” Gerlach said. “I think the multifaceted approach to how young people learn in different ways is going to make a real difference.”

The group of regional partners developed a comprehensive plan to enhance students’ skills and knowledge by recognizing the economic development possibilities in connecting talented young people with advanced manufacturing careers and entrepreneurial opportunities, the release said.

The plan includes career awareness strategies, eSTEAM-related in-school and out-of-school curriculum and experiences, and professional development opportunities for 78 eastern N.C. teachers. The Academy not only focuses on students, but helps teachers better prepare those students for the workforce.

The Academy begins at the middle-grade level because that’s where students often lose interest. This plan pushes both younger and older students to have an engaging pathway to follow, according to the release.