SULLIVAN COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A local school corporation received new funding to expand school counseling and increase students’ career readiness.

Southwest School Corporation in Sullivan County recently received over $300,000 dollars in grant funding.

The grant is the Comprehensive School Counseling Grant from the Indiana Department of Education. David Lisman, the school counseling director at Sullivan High School says the funding will be used to hire a career and technical coach for all grade levels.

It will also be used to hire a full-time counselor for Carlisle Elementary and Middle Schools, someone who can help students in a variety of ways.

“To help students deal with academics, career areas and also their personal and social issues which all go together in creating students’ ability to achieve their dreams,” Lisman said.

This local impact is part of a statewide initiative to increase school counseling and career readiness in Indiana.

The Indiana Department of Education awarded a total of 5 million dollars in funding to schools around the state for these initiatives.