Global investment and commercial bank JPMorgan Chase announced Dec. 6 that it will give a $6 million grant to D.C., Maryland and Virginia public schools as part of “New Skills for Youth,” the company’s $75 million national initiative aimed at expanding career readiness programs. The company gave similar grants to public school districts across the country.

The grant will be split between Montgomery County, Fairfax County, D.C., Prince George’s County and Baltimore City public schools. MCPS will evenly split their portion of funding—$800,000 over four years—between themselves, Montgomery College and the Universities at Shady Grove, according to MCPS Public Information Supervisor Gboyinde Onijala.

JPMorgan’s initiative cooperates with public schools to expand career programs. “We have a responsibility to build a better future for the region’s young people,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in a press release. “This investment is a good example of how the public and private sectors can work together to create opportunity for more people and grow the local economy so that everyone benefits.”

In Montgomery County, the grant will help high school and community college graduates find careers in STEM by connecting degrees and certifications to those careers. The grant will also expose students to STEM fields by creating new high school classes that will coordinate work with colleges, so students are more prepared for advanced coursework in college.

“Basically, it’s going to allow us to design educational pathways that connect post-secondary degrees, certifications and real-world work experiences to high demand careers in technology,” Onijala said.

Currently, Whitman offers several technology courses, but the only work-experience centered class in any field is Child Development. Students are excited for more career related instruction.

“Whitman has a good amount of tech classes but they aren’t really focused on jobs so I think these new programs will help fix that,” junior Zach Zeldow said.

The investment will help the county in preparing its students for in-demand jobs, MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith said.

“It’s our job to offer every opportunity we can to the kids that walk through our front doors,” Smith said in a press release. “Career and technical education programs have proven to better prepare young people for the road that lies ahead, and we’re proud to partner with JPMorgan Chase to do just that.”