The effort centers on the Western Slope Schools Career Collaborative (WSSCC) which grew out of a Colorado Department of Education grant after the pandemic. The collaborative includes school districts in Montrose, Delta, Gunnison, and Ridgway and is designed to help them share resources and expand career and technical education opportunities for students.
Montrose County School District Superintendent Carrie Stephenson said the goal is to make sure district boundaries do not limit what students can access.
Working alongside WSSCC is Homegrown Pathways, a Western Slope nonprofit founded by Ridgway High School graduate Colin Lacey. The organization focuses on helping young people build career pathways and economic mobility in the region, including through entrepreneurship.
One of its main programs is SparkLab, a youth “pre-accelerator” that gives students the chance to pitch business ideas, nonprofit concepts, creative projects, or career paths they want to explore. SparkLab started as an after-school model, but is now being brought into classrooms during the school day.
(See KVNF's prior coverage on a SparkLab event in the North Fork here.)
For Stephenson, that matters.
"Here’s the most important thing,” she said. “Authentic, engaging experiences for kids shouldn’t have to be after school. It should be the way that we do business.”
SparkLab also provides seed funding so students can take real next steps on their ideas. Lacey shared the story of an Olathe student who used that support to expand a dessert business.
But both guests said the deeper impact goes beyond money.
“It’s so much more than the money,” Stephenson said. [for students] “It’s the fact that somebody listened to me, it’s the fact that somebody believes in me, somebody thinks my idea is valid.”
