NSTogether

Connect * Collaborate * Contribute

Issue 40 | June 2025

Welcome to NSTogether, our quarterly newsletter to keep you informed about the K-16 Collaborative work happening all over the North State region.

In this issue, we're spotlighting new programs and grants as well as voices from the field, with our directors sharing what they've learned and how it connects to our regional efforts.

North State Together and The McConnell Foundation are thrilled to announce that NST is now administering the NatureBridge in Yosemite Program for North State students. 

The McConnell Foundation is excited to hand over the reins of its long-standing Yosemite Program to NST, and NST is excited to receive it. Ana Bachman, Program Coordinator for The McConnell Foundation, has managed the Yosemite Program in-house for the past 21 years. She plans to retire in 2026. 

Left to Right: Ana Bachman, Program Coordinator, The McConnell Foundation; Kevin O'Rorke, Associate Superintendent of Shasta- Tehama-Trinity Community College District, and CEO, North State Together; Onica Mello, Program Director, North State Together

The Foundation approached North State Together to explore whether they had the capacity and interest to take on the NatureBridge Program. “Ana has done an exceptional job of managing NatureBridge for The McConnell Foundation. NST has strong relationships in the five counties NatureBridge serves. We are confident that the passion and talent exists within the NST staff to offer the same level of expertise Ana has offered, and to grow the Program in new ways into the future,” shared Shannon Phillips, COO.

This powerful, five-day outdoor environmental education experience has enriched our region for 35 years. This extraordinary program, led by the nonprofit NatureBridge in collaboration with the National Park Service, brings high school sophomores and juniors to Yosemite National Park each spring for a week of immersive, place-based learning. Guided by expert educators, students participate in hands-on science, engaging in activities, reflective discussions, and meaningful exploration, all within one of California's most iconic natural settings.

NST's administration and supervision of the Foundation's Yosemite Program align seamlessly with its cradle-to-career mission.

By connecting students to their natural surroundings and offering a real-world on-ramp to environmental education, the program fosters a lifelong sense of stewardship and opens doors to future academic and career pathways in the environmental sciences. 

NST is honored to continue this legacy and support the next generation of changemakers as they learn about their role in stewarding our environment.

Left photo: Students heading to the evening program

This program is funded by The McConnell Foundation, Redding, California. The McConnell Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to help build better communities through philanthropy.

North State Together (NST) is excited to share that it has been awarded a CA Jobs First Catalyst Fund grant to help build and strengthen workforce pathways across the North State. This funding will support projects that increase access to quality training programs and educational opportunities for underserved students in rural communities.

Through this initiative, NST seeks to boost community vitality by establishing long-term infrastructure for workforce development. By focusing on data sharing, regional collaboration, and targeted outreach, the goal is to make educational and career pathways more accessible and navigable for North State youth.

Following a regional request for proposals, six projects were selected to receive Catalyst Fund support:

Building Butte

Rooted in Resilience: Empowering Tribal and Youth Engagement for Northern California's Environmental Future This project combines Chico State’s Ecotherapy program with Tribal cultural training to inspire North State youth to pursue careers in natural resources. By combining immersive outdoor mental health programming with culturally grounded career exploration, it equips young people with resilience, career awareness, and a deeper understanding of indigenous stewardship practices—all essential for building the future environmental workforce.

Reach Higher Shasta

CareerQuest Summer Internship

CareerQuest offers high school students in Shasta and Trinity counties a “learn and earn” summer internship with local environmental science employers. Students gain hands-on experience, earn college credit, and develop professional skills through a structured bootcamp and paid placements—preparing them for high-wage, high-impact careers in environmental sectors while addressing regional workforce needs

Growing Environmental Education Infrastructure in Shasta County

This initiative enhances environmental learning at four Shasta County schools by expanding Paxton Patterson career labs and building a hydroponics lab. Students will explore alternative energy, ecology, and sustainable agriculture, gaining industry-aligned certifications like ServSafe and hands-on experience that deepens their understanding of environmental careers from middle through high school.

Cradle 2 Careers for Siskiyou



Empowering Siskiyou, Trinity, and Modoc Students in Forestry and Natural Resources

This tri-county collaboration empowers rural and Indigenous youth through hands-on environmental education rooted in Traditional Ecological Knowledge. With pathways in wildfire mitigation, GIS mapping, and sustainable forestry, students earn credentials and gain work experience that equips them for careers in environmental stewardship, strengthening the regional workforce pipeline.

Expect More Tehama

Strengthening Environmental Stewardship through CTE and Construction Management This pilot blends construction management with environmental stewardship by having high school students design and build tiny homes using sustainable materials. With industry mentors and university support, students learn green construction practices, gain real-world CTE experience, and connect with local employers in the growing eco-conscious construction sector.

Trinity Together

Trinity County Environmental Stewards

Trinity Together’s project immerses youth in paid stewardship work through the Watershed Research and Training Center’s Youth Conservation Corps. Paired with cross-county wilderness excursions and tribal knowledge sessions, students gain hands-on skills, industry credentials, and career mapping tools that set them on a path to high-quality jobs in natural resources.

The Butte County Office of Education is excited to announce the launch of Cohort 2 of its Dental Assistant Apprenticeship Program, expanding opportunities for both dental employers and aspiring dental professionals in the Shasta and Tehama regions.

This innovative Earn and Learn program offers classroom training and exam prep at no cost to participants—while they earn a wage! Apprentices will be fully prepared to sit for the California State Board Exam to become Registered Dental Assistants.

For Employers: Upskill your team or bring on trained apprentices—free classroom training included!

For Students: Earn while you learn and prepare for the California State Board Exam to become a Registered Dental Assistant.

Spread the Word!

Learn more: cte.bcoe.org/dental-assistant-apprenticeship

Contact Info: email - apprenticeship@bcoe.org | 530-879-7462

At the 2025 Partners for Rural Impact Summit, NST Program Director Onica Mello attended a powerful session titled “Supporting College and Career Pathway Success for Rural Men.” Below, she shares key takeaways and insights from the session on behalf of North State Together.

At the Partners for Rural Impact 2025 Summit, I attended a session titled “Supporting College and Career Pathway Success for Rural Men” presented by Bonnie Williams (The Ford Family Foundation), Missy Olson (Umpqua College), and Sam Riggs (Education Northwest). The session highlighted the persistent challenges rural male students face in higher education — specifically, lower enrollment, persistence, transfer, and completion rates compared to non-rural peers. The Ford Family Foundation (FFF), a key funder of family, education, and community initiatives in Oregon, has been spearheading efforts to close these gaps through data-informed strategies. Their recent focus has been on improving outcomes for young rural men attending community colleges, which serve as the primary postsecondary pathway for this group.

Launched in 2022, the “Improving Community College Outcomes for Rural Oregon Men” initiative provided targeted grants to four Oregon community colleges. These colleges used the funds to hire dedicated coaches, expand basic needs support, and foster social engagement — including outreach via texting, focused advising, on-campus events like barbecues and “Lunch and Learn” events, and industry tours. A critical insight shared was the twofold nature of the challenge: while colleges must provide belonging and targeted services, students also need to step forward and participate to truly integrate into the campus community. One notable example was a college president bringing in Richard Reeves, author of Of Boys and Men, to engage the broader community and spur local support for these young men.

The initiative was built on rigorous evaluation, combining qualitative methods (student surveys, staff interviews, reflective practice) and quantitative analyses (student-level data, participation rates, and academic outcomes). Early data is promising: over 900 students participated in the program’s first two years, with participants demonstrating higher fall-to-spring and year-to-year persistence rates, greater credit accumulation, and stronger engagement in core courses like math and writing compared to non-participants. Importantly, the demographic profile of participants largely mirrors that of the general male student body, with the majority identifying as white (67%) or Hispanic/Latino (16%).

Key learnings from the first two years emphasize the central role of belonging, proactive advising, stable staffing, and robust mentorship in supporting rural male students. Student voices also highlighted the importance of mental health resources and opportunities to build peer connections. Looking ahead, the initiative is preparing to launch its next three-year phase in Fall 2025, with colleges deepening their focus on specific subgroups such as GED and home-schooled students. The program’s evolving design, grounded in continuous data collection and community of practice exchanges, offers a promising roadmap for enhancing college and career pathway success among rural men.

In May, two members of the North State Together backbone team—Andrew Fitzhugh, Program Director (left) and James Crandall, Regional Director of Data Strategies (below right)—recently traveled to Missoula, Montana, as part of the Expect More Tehama cohort team for the third Institute of the Building Rural Community Systems (BRCS) initiative.

Led by CivicLab and supported by Ascendium Education Group and ECMC Foundation, this national effort brings together rural leaders from across the country to strengthen the systems that support thriving communities.

Building on the momentum of previous gatherings, this Institute focused on deepening our understanding of effective systems-building strategies. Over several days, participants revisited the Stakeholder Engagement Process, explored tools to evaluate the health and alignment of partnerships, and shared practices for sustaining long-term collaboration across sectors.

Left to Right: Jim Harrell, Shasta College; Kathy Garcia and Kate Grissom, Expect More Tehama; James Crandall, North State Together; Carrie Ferchaud, Job Training Center of Tehama County; Rochelle Barajas, Red Bluff High School; Andrew Fitzhugh, North State Together; Trena Kimler-Richards, CTE Consultant

A major theme throughout the convening was the integration of labor market and economic data into place-based decision-making. Sessions highlighted how rural communities can use this data to better understand local conditions and identify actionable strategies. Participants also engaged in discussions on current federal policy trends and explored how rural initiatives can be more effectively messaged and positioned for impact.

Andrew and James returned with new tools, frameworks, and collaborative approaches to strengthen community partnerships and advance systems-level change. We’re excited to apply these insights across the North State and continue our collective work to improve outcomes for all.

On Monday afternoon, May 19, 2025, North State Together participated in the K-16 UC Davis Advisory Team Strategic Planning Meeting, held on the UC Davis campus. The meeting opened with introductions and an engaging icebreaker led by Laura Cerruti, UC Davis Chief Impact Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, asking: “If [blank] were improved, students could move more easily through our educational and occupational pathways.”

The gathering brought together a diverse group of education and workforce leaders from across the state, including representatives from the three regional K-16 Collaboratives UC Davis supports: North State (North State Together), Redwood Coast (Cal Poly Humboldt), and Sacramento (Capitol Impact). Also in attendance were key representatives from two CA Jobs First grant conveners, including the North State Planning and Development Collective and Valley Vision.

Following the opening, Ebony Lewis, Chief Strategy Officer for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UC Davis, guided the group through a series of regional updates. These included a summary of the recent CAP Forum, discussions on evaluation and assessment, regional successes and challenges, and potential opportunities for cross-regional collaboration.

One of the highlights of the meeting was a Career Pathways presentation from Kate Mahar, Associate Vice President of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives at Shasta College and Director of SCAILE. Mahar introduced an innovative and interactive online pathway mapping tool designed to help North State students of all backgrounds explore higher education and certificate programs, support services, and career resources. This student-centered tool will soon be available on the North State Together website.

Capitol Impact’s program directors, Carrie Rose, Annie Sterling, and Cristina Puente, also presented on Sacramento region efforts to streamline and enhance educational pathways under the K-16 Educational Collaboratives Grant.

The meeting continued with a data sharing update from Brendan Livingston, Director of Enrollment Management Analytics at UC Davis, highlighting progress on cross-institutional agreements critical to data-informed decision-making. The afternoon concluded with updates on CA Jobs First initiatives, with Courtney Farrell presenting for the North State and Evan Schmidt for the Sacramento region.

To wrap up, each participant shared a key insight they gained and identified someone they intended to collaborate with to further strengthen K-16 alignment and CA Jobs First outcomes. North State Together’s presence at this convening underscored the importance of sustained regional collaboration and innovation in building equitable, accessible pathways for all learners across California.

Good Reads

Are you signed up to attend 2025 National Forum to Advance Rural Education?

The Partners for Rural Impact (PRI) Rural Summit is just around the corner, and the official agenda is now live! If you’re attending next month, take a moment to explore the schedule and decide which sessions best align with your interests and goals.

This is a great opportunity to dive into key topics, connect with fellow rural education and community development leaders, and bring valuable insights back to your work.

Click the button to check out their agenda and start planning your sessions now!

We can’t wait to see you there!

CONNECT ** COLLABORATE ** CONTRIBUTE

OUR VISION

North State Together is a regional network of cross-sector partners who have come together to strengthen educational outcomes from cradle to career for ALL in far Northern California. 

OUR MISSION

To increase community vitality by increasing educational access and success in the North State through local solutions within a regional support framework.

OUR VALUES

We are community, data, equity, and relationship driven.