Berkshire County Regional Employment Board Awarded State Grant

10:38AM / Thursday, October 30, 2025Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced more than $8.5 million in career-connected learning grants to support school districts and workforce partners in expanding high-quality career pathways and work-based learning opportunities for students across Massachusetts.

In Berkshire County, the Berkshire County Regional Employment Board was awarded a $334,438 Connected Activities Grant.

Funding will expand work-based learning immersion experiences, strengthen partnerships with local employers, and build a regional system of support for high schools to connect students with career experiences.

"Every student deserves the opportunity to explore their interests and connect what they learn in the classroom to their future careers," said Governor Maura Healey. "These grants will help schools and communities give students meaningful experiences that open doors and build confidence in their next steps after high school."

Massachusetts Career Connected Learning Frameworks, MyCAP, a student-driven process that helps every student design a personalized plan for postsecondary success in college or a career, and

MEFA Pathways, a statewide portal for work-based learning plans. Further, the funding supports all 16 MassHire Workforce Boards to expand work-based learning immersion experiences and build a regional system of support for high schools to connect students with meaningful career experiences.

The grants support several career-connected learning programs that advance the Healey-Driscoll Administration's Reimaging High School initiative and will help prepare students for success in college, career, and civic life by strengthening connections between classrooms and real-world experiences. The funding is administered by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and aligns with the

Massachusetts Career Connected Learning Hub and Career Pathway Strategies.

The administration has been expanding access to career-connected education in a variety of ways through their Reimagining High School initiative.

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Berkshire Museum Explores Ancient Egypt With ‘Soulful Creatures’

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
11:33AM / Friday, October 09, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Following its multimillion-dollar renovation, the Berkshire Museum is welcoming an exhibition unlike any it has been able to host before.

Marking the museum's first major exhibition since its renovation, "Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt," opening Saturday, Oct. 10, thins the veil between the ever-evolving history of Egyptian culture and society and modern day people.

"The most important thing about history is recognizing people from the past as actual people. Ancient Egyptians are no different than us," said William Dore, the museum's chief curator. "They have different cultures and beliefs and different viewpoints, but you can say the same thing about people today."

When audiences experience the exhibit, they will see the humanity in the people of the past, which in turn helps them connect with different views and perspectives around the world today, he said.

Combining archeology with modern scientific imaging, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Museum curators Yekaterina Barbash and Edward Bleiberg designed an exhibit that works to uncover the mysteries behind these objects and the beliefs and rituals that surround them.

"I think something that people kind of misunderstand about history is none of it's ever settled. ... History is a science that is constantly questioned,” Dore said. "It only works if everyone's constantly rethinking things, learning new things ... which is for me super exciting because as much as we know a lot about the ancient Egyptians, there's a lot we don't know.”

The installation features dozens of artifacts on loan from the Brooklyn Museum that explores the practice of animal mummification and the role animals played in ancient Egyptian religion.

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