by Ben Overby
The Paducah Sun
March 16, 2026
Used with permission.
The Paducah Public Schools Board of Education discussed the implementation of a $1.9 million Nuclear Energy Education & Workforce grant at a meeting Monday.
Kristina McDowell, community outreach specialist for the Paducah Area Technology Center, said the grant — funded through the West Kentucky Educational Cooperative — is designed to recruit and prepare students in rural counties to join a highly skilled workforce for the nuclear energy sector. She said the grant will make the Paducah Innovation Hub a regional STEM learning hub for 11 western Kentucky school districts.
“Grant funds will allow students from across the region to come to the Hub to participate in learning experiences,” McDowell said. “This grant will also provide updated technology and equipment for the Innovation Hub Makerspace.”
McDowell said the grant coincides with one of the goals of the Innovation Hub, preparing students for skilled industries like the nuclear energy sector at a younger age. She said while the Hub is often seen as focusing on high school students, this grant is aimed at preparing middle schoolers.
“A lot of times we find when students get to the middle school level or high school level, they truly don’t understand what job opportunities are available in our community,” McDowell said. “The best thing that we can do is allow our students to have an early awareness, and so by introducing these concepts, these types of lessons, it will not only be hands-on learning, but it will also make them aware of what type of work these future employers are going to be looking for.”
The grant funds 12 Paxton/Patterson STEM modules for all of the included middle schools, including Paducah Middle School, according to McDowell. The modules will include around 120 hours of STEM instruction focused on engineering and technical career exploration. It will also fund six virtual reality headsets for Paducah Middle School, which are used for immersive career exploration.
Additionally, the grant will fund a digital citizenship curriculum for elementary and middle school students, aimed at preparing students for career paths that require security clearance, like many in the nuclear sector.
“The digital citizenship program is focused on helping students have an awareness that the internet comes with a lot of responsibilities,” McDowell said. “A lot of times, we find students who are in fourth and fifth grade don’t understand that what you put on social media or on the internet is going to follow you all the way through adulthood. So when they’re trying to find these jobs that are requiring security clearance, they’re not necessarily available for those types of positions.”
The grant program also funds trips for the included districts to visit colleges with pathways in energy engineering and technical careers.
McDowell also discussed a $75,000 Kentucky Department of Education SPARK grant supporting postsecondary transition resources for students with disabilities. She said the district partnered with KDE for a day focused on transition services on March 13.
“We brought together state and community partners to provide training on important transition topics, including Medicaid waivers, guardianship and legal considerations, family advocacy resources and evidence-based learning practices that support students as they move from school to adulthood. As part of the day, our staff participated in a bus tour to all three Easteseals West Kentucky facilities, where we were able to see firsthand the services and programs available in our community that support individuals with disabilities.”
McDowell said the district plans to use SPARK grant funds to host a parent night with guest speakers to inform parents of children with disabilities of the community and state resources available to them.
The board approved an $855,000 contract with Ascendant Facility Partners for the construction of the solar field project on the site of the vacant Forest Hills school building. The demolition, the contract for which was approved at last month’s meeting, is nearly complete, according to Superintendent Donald Shively.
“We are probably right at 90% of the building razed already as of today, at about four o’clock when I drove by,” Shively said. “We’re super close to starting the construction phase, which the board approved the contract for today. On our timeline, it should be early next week that we have that happening, as far as the construction phase and not the demolition side.”
Shively said the project is on track for completion in mid to late August. The project’s construction is funded by an $875,000 competitive Department of Energy grant, according to Shively.
“We’re super excited about not only a solar field, but clean energy, electrical engineering, electricity, relative to using that as an outdoor learning center for our students, for our engineers,” Shively said. “It’s exciting with all the developments at the Paducah Department of Energy site. A $1.5 to $1.8 billion investment has already been announced, which is several hundred construction jobs, and to my understanding, about 700 full-time jobs between Global Laser Enrichment and General Matters, along with whatever comes as far as sub-companies that feed into those.”