Groton – In applying for two federal grants, school officials are eyeing ways to expand opportunities for students after high school – and to make sure students are aware of those opportunities.

Groton Public Schools will apply for two Supplemental Enhancement Grants, one to develop a career exploration course for freshmen and one for the manufacturing program at Fitch High School.

The Board of Education unanimously approved both applications at its Monday meeting.

One application is a for a $30,000 grant to provide funding for a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine, and to get tools for fine wood craftsmanship, Superintendent Michael Graner explained. He noted the latter application of the grant would be about training students to be artisans.

School board Chairwoman Kim Shepardson Watson said that while the future after high school for some students is college, for “others it’s having a trade and having a skill, and I love the fact that we are really building on that pathway.”

Fitch High School breaks down courses into career pathways such as business management, hospitality and tourism, and manufacturing, and Graner said the other grant – for the ninth-grade career exploration course – would help students get on a pathway that interests them.

He said the grant would allow the Cooperative Work Experience teacher to write the curriculum for a one-semester course and then provide training for other teachers. He could not immediately provide the amount of the career exploration grant.

The course would be an elective, but Graner noted that it could fill the slot that will arise next year when the freshman academic seminar is reduced from a year-long course to a half-year one.

Funding comes from the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. Basic grants are awarded to states and then distributed among schools, while the Supplemental Enhancement Grants are competitive.