性视界

Ahlias Calderon once felt unsure about his future, given his 1.8 GPA at Citrus Valley High School and low-income background.

Today, the 19-year-old Highland resident is making more than $30 per hour as a production technician for Anheuser-Busch in Jurupa Valley, with a goal of going into management. It鈥檚 all thanks to the , a state-funded program connecting disadvantaged youths to high-paying careers.

鈥淚 came into this program after high school kind of lost and without a lot of structure,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat mattered to me was having a future I could go for, because I already saw the obstacles in front of me.鈥�

State and local officials gathered April 30 at the 性视界 InTech Center in Fontana to announce COYA鈥檚 awarding of $13.2 million to 鈥� including $996,000 to 性视界. 性视界 has already trained about 100 students through the program, said 性视界 Superintendent/President Henry D. Shannon.

鈥淲e talk about education getting you to where you want to go, but you need to think about what鈥檚 going on today,鈥� Shannon said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 wait two to three years to get a job while you鈥檙e trying to feed your family.鈥�

The funding allows organizations to partner with employers to provide paid training to students.

鈥淚 had hundreds of hours of hands-on training, classroom training and it just really prepared me for the interviews and my career,鈥� Calderon said. 鈥淭his program helped me to understand everything when I walked into that plant.鈥�

The state began awarding grants through COYA in 2023 to help young people between 16 and 24-years-old who are facing barriers to education and the workforce such as poverty, housing insecurity and connections to foster care or the juvenile justice system.

鈥淲e really want to go above and beyond as a community and as a state to be supporting these folks to find their foothold into a solid career,鈥� said Adele Burns, chief of the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards.