Trinidad educators have seen student after student leave the town after graduation with a feeling that Trinidad no longer offers them a life filled with opportunities. Now, a group of locals is seeking to change the trend, and keep more of those graduates where they grew up.
Trinidad State College and Trinidad School District No. 1 are hoping to create an eco-system of high-demand jobs on its campuses that can keep Trinidad graduates within the city, following in the footsteps of a Fremont County initiative called Emergent Campus.
“The long and short of it is, this is about our kids,” TSC President Dr. Rhonda Epper said. “This is about building a Trinidad where our kids have opportunities to thrive, to be educated and to have pathways into career fields that lead to a sustainable living wage. We want our kids to stay in Trinidad. We want them to be able to be educated in a field in which they don’t have to leave town in order to pursue viable career opportunities, or go to the big city to find work.”