Western Slope Schools Career Collaborative
The Western Slope Schools Career Collaborative (WSSCC) is a rural school district collaborative founded in 2021 by educators and district leaders across Delta, Gunnison, Montrose, and Ridgway School Districts. Its board of directors is comprised of the four district superintendents and three regional postsecondary partners: Colorado Mesa University – Montrose, the Technical College of the Rockies, and Western Colorado University.
Homegrown Pathways began leading WSSCC in August 2025. The two organizations share staff, strategy, and programming, with WSSCC providing the district infrastructure and HGP providing the direct service model. Together, HGP and WSSCC drive economic mobility by connecting rural youth to quality education, career, entrepreneurial, and work-based learning opportunities in their home region.
What WSSCC does
WSSCC facilitates career development opportunities that individual rural districts couldn't build or sustain alone — coordinating across four school districts to share programming, connect students to regional employers and postsecondary institutions, and expand access to work-based learning. Spark Lab is the collaborative's core direct service model, delivered inside school-day courses across member districts.
WSSCC is funded primarily through public state and federal grants, including Congressional Discretionary Spending funding. WSSCC was a prior recipient of an Opportunity Now grant alongside partner rural collaboratives across the state.
highlights from 2025-26
During the 2025–26 academic year, WSSCC advanced career-connected learning and durable skills development across the region through both direct program delivery and the deployment of career-connected resources. WSSCC has enabled expanded student programming, industry-recognized certifications, hands-on career exploration opportunities, educator training and support, and strategic investments designed to strengthen long-term career pathways access for rural students across the Western Slope. Highlights include:
Established and deployed over $50,000 of district discretionary funding designed to support more flexible, district-driven investments aligned with local priorities and community-specific student needs/goals (and the parameters of Opportunity Now)
Assigned and began disseminating $100,000+ in OIT and career-connected gear across the collaborative through the development of localized district gear libraries, all based on direct feedback and survey requests from each district
Committed $20,000+ toward summer student programming and certifications including Wilderness First Aid (WFA), Wilderness First Responder (WFR), and Ski Manufacturing opportunities
Continued regional expansion planning for Project Bike Tech programming (results in an industry-recognized credential aligned with PWR/”Big Three” priorities) including new gear for Gunnison, a new PBT implementation for Fall 2026 at Black Canyon High School in MCSD, and potential for future implementation in DCSD
Advanced development of a new, region-specific intro to Outdoor Industry Career Pathways Curriculum and the OIT Career Pathways Toolkit
Reintroduced and further developed a formal district liaison role launching in Fall 2026 to strengthen cross-district communication, collaboration, and reporting
Began planning a fully reimagined regional OIT & Manufacturing Career Fair in partnership with Montrose Economic Development Corporation, scheduled for October 8, 2026, with an emphasis on hands-on, career-connected experiences
WSSCC is on target across all budget categories for 2025-26
Career Pathways
We are diligently working to increase access for rural students to high school courses, credentialing programs, apprenticeships, and degree programs, helping young people make informed decisions about their education and career paths.
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The construction trades are essential for building and maintaining infrastructure, homes, and commercial buildings, and provide crucial skilled labor for the growth and development of Western Slope communities and economies.
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The outdoor industry and tourism are vital contributors to the economies of Colorado's Western Slope, generating significant revenue, job opportunities, and enhancing the region's overall quality of life through careers in recreation, conservation, hospitality, and manufacturing.
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The healthcare industry is crucial to Colorado's Western slope as it plays a significant role in providing access to medical services, promoting community health, and contributing to the region's economic growth.
Our Challenge
Challenge #1
Three out of four jobs in Colorado require post-secondary training or education.
Jobs that necessitate additional training beyond high school are experiencing three times more growth than jobs that only require a high school diploma.
Presently, employers in Colorado are struggling to find sufficient workers to fill positions in various high-demand industries.
Employers report that students need additional preparation to succeed in the numerous job opportunities available within the state.
(Colorado Department of Education, 2020, Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2023)
Our Work
Creating and expanding access to work based learning, certification programs, and college credits
In work based learning programs students gain the experience employers are seeking and gain the skills and credentials needed to succeed in the workforce.
Regional work based learning and credentialing programs increase employer connections to a robust talent pipeline tailored to their needs.
Work based learning and credentialing programs focused on regional needs gives young people the option to find high paying jobs where they live, reducing rural “brain drain”.
(CDE, 2023.)
Challenge #2
Rural students lack access to the career connected learning that provides the foundation necessary to access jobs that pay a livable wage.
Rural geography and distance make travel expensive and time consuming and school districts have been hit hard by the teacher shortage.
The poverty rate in rural Colorado is 14.8% as compared to 12.7% in urban Colorado. Many students cannot afford to take on courses or internships that require travel or time away from earning wages at a job.
“Rural schools have faced funding challenges that make it harder for them to provide critical services to students that we know are essential for their education, such as after-school activities, tutoring and so much more,” State Rep. Meghan Lukens
(CDE, 2020, Colorado Rural Education Collaborative, 2023)
Our work
Increasing equity and access through providing transportation, stipends, and online programming.
Increasing hybrid and virtual course access through interdistrict sharing of resources reduces the need for expensive and time consuming travel
Providing stipends to students for work based learning programs ensures that they do not have to sacrifice their education for earning a wage
Providing stipends to teachers for career and tech ed training and certifications increases student access to high quality career connected learning opportunities.
Providing transportation at low and no cost to students removes significant barriers to career exploration events and courses that provide essential credentials
Challenge #3
Regional employment needs and student interest must be addressed in order to retain a skilled homegrown workforce.
The intersection of student interest and economic need must be considered when designing meaningful career pathway programming that leads to regional workforce retention.
Career pathway programming has been shown to increase student readiness for both the workforce and post secondary education, contributing to their success.
Students who have explored career pathways have a better understanding of their own career interests, enabling them to make informed choices around their post secondary education and training, reducing their costs .
(Colorado Department of Education, 2020,)
Our work
Expanding and creating career pathways specific to our region
Career pathway systems, designed based on industry requirements and emphasizing competency in education, training, and recruitment, are crucial for addressing challenges faced by education systems and employers.
(Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2023.)
Existing pathway priorities for our region were identified as the existing pathway of Construction and Healthcare.
In addition, a new Outdoor Industry and Tourism Pathway, specific to the West Central region, has been established.
These focus areas were determined based on a combination of workforce data, input from students, and community capacity.
(Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2023.)
