While the competition has ended, North Polk remains fully committed to developing innovative career and technical education (CTE) programming that prepares students for the future. Iowa receives nearly $12 million annually in federal Career and Technical Education funding, supporting the state’s goal of having 70% of the workforce educated beyond high school by 2025. North Polk leverages partnerships with major employers including Syngenta, Corteva, and John Deere’s manufacturing plant in nearby Ankeny. The district’s drone class exemplifies this forwardthinking approach. “We’re trying to think, well, as industry changes, how do we prepare students to be able to fly those drones, be able to use the data that can be collected with the microchips included in the drones to be able to provide farmers with better information,” Kline explains. MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS North Polk’s building boom tells the story of a district racing to keep pace with explosive growth. In just four years under Kline’s leadership, the district has completed nine major projects worth close to a million dollars or more each. The centerpiece is an addition to the high school featuring new labs.“We have added a $7 million addition to our high school for a new AG and metals lab and then a construction and woods lab,” Kline says. The metals facility addresses a critical skills gap in Iowa’s economy. When Kline arrived, the entire district had just one welding machine. The new lab YOUR FRONT LAWN IS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD. A FAMILY-OWNED LAWN CARE COMPANY FOUNDED IN POLK CITY, SERVING OUR NEIGHBORS FOR 27 YEARS. WWW.TOTALQUALITYINC.COM | © 2025 TOTAL QUALITY INC. LAWNCARE NEEDS? IRRIGATION QUESTIONS? 390 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 09
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