CTE Foundation awards $140,274 in grants to Sonoma County classrooms

This school year, a group of Santa Rosa High School students will build a working bathroom on wheels. In Petaluma, teenagers will balance tires on the same equipment used in professional shops. At Elsie Allen High School, agriculture students will pour a concrete floor in their livestock barn alongside a local contractor. And in Geyserville, students will design and build a chicken coop that will satisfy both their ag mechanics and science curriculum. 

All of it is funded by Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation Sonoma County, which today announced $140,274 in grants to 15 programs at 13 school sites across 9 Sonoma County districts and organizations for the 2026-2027 school year. 

The grants are made possible by individuals across the county that have generously donated to CTE Foundation, whose funding enables schools to implement new approaches to career-connected learning. This year’s awards range from $1,774 to $25,000 and reach students in nearly every corner of the county - from Cloverdale and Geyserville in the north to Petaluma in the south, and from Sebastopol in the west to Sonoma Valley in the east. 

"Our schools need more than the funding they get from the state, and it's an honor to help provide that,” said Eli Weinzveg, Executive Director of CTE Foundation. “These are the systems that raised us, and they're raising our kids now - investing in them is investing in the next generation of this county. What excites me most isn't just the funding; it's watching it pull teachers and students deeper into the classes that give kids real joy and a sense of belonging. Every student in Sonoma County deserves that, and this county's generosity is what makes it possible."

What the funding supports 

The largest award, $25,000, goes to Analy High School in Sebastopol to expand its Patient Care pathway. The school will develop two new introductory courses - Medical Terminology, and Medical Terminology for Spanish Speakers - and build an alternative capstone track for students interested in nursing and clinical care, not only athletic training. The grant also buys teacher time to build relationships with Santa Rosa Junior College, the North Bay Health Pathways Alliance and local employers. 

Petaluma City Schools received $12,000 to send 15 students through a summer Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program, with the goal of every participant passing the state exam and moving into employment.  

"A Certified Nursing Assistant certificate is one of the few credentials a student can earn before graduation that leads directly to a job with a real wage,” said Dan Ostermann, Ed.D., the College & Career Pathways Coordinator at Petaluma City Schools. “These students spent their summer earning it, and Sonoma County's care facilities need every one of them." 

Two more Petaluma High School programs were funded: $7,500 to replace aging tire rotation and balancing equipment in the auto shop, where enrollment has grown to five sections, and $5,000 to buy a professional cinema camera for TBC Digital Media, a student-run business that earned $10,600 last year and is now launching a paid internship. 

"When a student walks into a shop after graduation, the equipment they find there shouldn't be a surprise,” said Keith Benson, Automotive & Manufacturing Instructor at Petaluma High School. “This grant means our lab looks like the shops our students are heading into, and every one of the 160 kids coming through auto this year will get their hands on it." 

"CTE Foundation's grant has expanded and enhanced our student-led enterprise, TBC Digital Media,” said Jamil Dawsari, Broadcasting and History Teacher at Petaluma High School. “With the grant, we can purchase industry-standard equipment which allows our students to produce quality content for our local businesses and nonprofit partners here in Petaluma and Sonoma County." 

In Santa Rosa, Elsie Allen High School received $7,500 to install a concrete floor in its agriculture barn that makes the school’s livestock program safer. 

"Our students are going to lay rebar and pour concrete next to a contractor who does this for a living, and at the end of it they'll have built something their school actually needed,” said Zachary Davis, Agriculture Mechanics teacher and FFA Advisor at Elsie Allen High School. “That's a very different lesson than reading about it - and it's something tangible they can show generations to come that they helped build." 

Santa Rosa High School received $6,000 to construct a full-scale mobile bathroom module, from framing through tile shower pan and valve, following the same sequencing, math and blueprint reading a job site demands. Santa Rosa City Schools also received $15,000 district-wide to launch a student-led CTE Ambassador Program. 

North county schools received $22,274. Windsor Middle School was funded twice: $7,500 to bring its student-run Culinary Café closer to industry standard for 284 students, and $1,774 for STEM dragster kits that math and science teachers will use together. Geyserville New Tech Academy received $7,000 to expand animal husbandry facilities and equip its apiary, and Cloverdale High School received $6,000 to increase hands-on lab work from roughly twice a month to every week or two - with materials provided so no family has to pay for a student to participate. 

Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified received $15,000 across two projects: a district-wide middle school career fair and counseling curriculum reaching 1,500 students, and support for Rancho Cotate High School’s robotics capstone. In Sonoma Valley, Hanna Academy received $10,000 to help a teacher earn a CTE credential and to buy construction trade equipment. Journey Academy, operated by TLC Child & Family Services in Sebastopol, received $15,000 to run an after-school culinary program leading to food handler certification, plus design and screen-printing workshops in arts, media and entertainment. 

How the grants are awarded 

CTE Foundation uses a trust-based philanthropy model for the Partnership Funding Opportunity, simplifying the application and reporting process to reduce barriers for schools with limited grant-writing capacity.  Proposals are reviewed by a Programs Committee made up of industry representatives, educators, students, parents, and nonprofit leaders who score applications using a rubric alongside an equity index, which evaluates each school's student population and gives added weight to schools serving students furthest from opportunity. 

Since 2013, CTE Foundation has awarded $5.8 million through the Partnership Funding Opportunity to Sonoma County schools. A full list of 2026-2027 recipients and projects is available at ctesonomacounty.org/grants. 

The Partnership Funding Opportunity is one of several ways CTE Foundation invests in career-connected education across Sonoma County. Applications are currently being processed for Path to Purpose: Sonoma County Youth Internships, connecting students across the county to local employers. Learn more at ctesonomacounty.org/pathtopurpose.