Brownwood High School juniors and seniors may soon get more hands-on training and earn educational certificates using drones and robotics.

The Brownwood Municipal Development District Board of Directors on Tuesday approved matching funds of $30,322 for a Texas Workforce Commission Jobs and Education for Texas Grant.  The Brownwood City Council must now approve the BMDD decision before the program can proceed.

Known as the JET Program, the matching grant will help implement a robotics, electronics and technology program in Brownwood High School through a partnership with Ranger College.  It would be targeted to juniors and seniors.  Ranger College officials told the BMDD Board the grant will fund a mobile lab and 40 drones.

“The grant from the Workforce Commission requires a matching grant to put the program in place,” said Ray Tipton, Executive Director of the BMDD.  “The drone technology is kind of the hook for the program but there will be a lot of other certificates that students will be able to get,” Tipton said.  The program will target students in their junior and senior year giving them the opportunity to learn more robotics, automation and drone technology.  “These are things a lot of our major industries need,” Tipton added.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission website, the Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) program was allocated $16 million for the FY20-21 biennium to provide grants to public community, state and technical colleges, and independent school districts to purchase and install equipment necessary for the development of career and technical education courses or program that lead to a license, certificate or post-secondary degree in a high-demand occupation.