TANNER — The Appalachian Regional Commission has awarded a $108,000 grant to Calhoun Community College for its STEAM: Merging Art with Technology and Engineering project.

In addition to ARC funds, local sources will provide $144,356, bringing the total project funding to $252,356, the school announced.

According to Dr. Debi Hendershot, Calhoun dean for Planning, Research and Grants, the project is to assist with reinforcing and developing STEAM programs at Calhoun that will help teach the skillsets desired by businesses in Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and Morgan counties.

The STEAM project will also help to support Calhoun’s Additive Manufacturing, Visual Communications, and Computer Information Systems programs, as well as the development of Design Innovations and Video Game Design programs at the Alabama Center for the Arts in downtown Decatur.

Filling an ever-growing job market is a challenge for this thriving, high-tech region of North Alabama, rich and diverse with the aerospace and defense, manufacturing, cybersecurity, and healthcare industries.

The STEAM project will focus on merging technology and engineering with arts to train students for current and future jobs in high-demand fields. The college has designed an associate of applied science degree to interweave those fields to prepare students for jobs after graduation or to continue to a four-year college.

“We have to remain forward-thinking regarding how we educate and train our students,” said Dr. Jimmy Hodges, Calhoun president. “Students from this region find themselves having a love for engineering, but also a love for the arts.

“We’ve learned how to combine the two fields without the student having to sacrifice one for the other.”