Marshall Plan for Talent grants awarded

It's called the Marshall Plan for addressing our state's talent gap.

Nine talent consortiums received a total of nearly $15 million to give students an opportunity to find careers in fields like healthcare, science, manufacturing and trades.

A teacher at Stockbridge High School says with the money he can now grow the school's underwater robotic program.

"Without winning this, it would've eliminated the opportunities for students. We hope to double our invent team program and double the students involved with that with these grants," said Bob Richards, robotics instructor at Stockbridge High School.

Another consortium in Jackson County received about $500,000 in grants, which is expected to benefit almost 19,000 students.

Another round of these grants will be handed out next month.