Local pol cooks up millions in funding for two south Brooklyn schools

Two southern Brooklyn schools are definitely making the grade thanks to some recent upgrades.

Gravesend’s John Dewey High School and Brighton Beach’s William E. Grady Career Technical Education High School will be receiving a total of $3.1 million in allocations thanks to the efforts of Councilmember Mark Treyger in partnership with City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to upgrade their Career Technical Education (CTE) culinary programs.

The funding – $2 .1 million of which will go to Dewey with Grady receiving $1 million – will provide each school with the resources necessary to “upgrade and overhaul their respective CTE culinary program equipment and materials,” according to Treyger’s office.

“As a former educator, I am thrilled to secure funding to improve CTE programs at a pair of Southern Brooklyn high schools which serve thousands of local students every year,” said Treyger. “CTE programs provide vital educational flexibility for our high school students. CTE programs supplement traditional curricula and provide high school students with meaningful skills, creating pathways to in-demand jobs. The skills learned and opportunities explored through CTE programs help students become familiar with job sectors where labor demand is outpacing the supply of qualified candidates.”

“Education – in all its forms – should never be undervalued,” added Mark-Viverito. “Through funding upgrades to the CTE culinary program, we have greatly improved the access to vocational training available to the youth of our city.”

In addition to helping secure the CTE funding for Dewey and Grady, Treyger allocated over $3.5 million to local schools for the upgrade of air conditioners, renovations to libraries, bathrooms, auditoriums, playgrounds and fields as well as other technology upgrades.

“This funding will enable us to design and implement a state-of-the-art culinary program that will prepare our students for college and innovative, rigorous, high-quality careers in the industries of Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Tourism,” said Connie Hamilton, Dewey’s principal. “We at John Dewey High School would like to thank Councilman Treyger and the City Council for the financial support that they have given to our school.”