ABOUT THE INSTITUTE
A 90-year promise, renewed
The Lillius Gilchrest Grace Institute for Education, Innovation, and Economic Development is committed to sustaining and growing the GRACE Innovation Center — carrying forward a tradition of hands-on learning that has shaped St. George for generations.
Our Story
In 1936, the Grace family founded a nonprofit in memory of Lillius Gilchrest Grace, a St. George native. For more than 70 years, the original Grace Institute offered local students classes in manual arts and home economics — the hands-on/minds-on learning that engaged and inspired generations of St. George students.
When that program ended and St. George formed its own municipal school district in 2015, parents and community members were clear about their top priority: bring shop back. The district started small — a few 3D printers, a laser cutter, and some robotics tucked into a corner of the school library — and watched students light up.
From that spark grew an ambitious idea: give every student, PreK through 12, access to hands-on, technical learning connected to career and community. In partnership with the MidCoast School of Technology, St. George set out to build the nation’s first PreK–12 Career & Technical Education program.
After raising more than $4.5 million from over 40 business and community partners, the GRACE Innovation Center opened its doors in August 2025 — a 5,500-square-foot home for boatbuilding, woodworking, metalwork, and a modern Makerspace.
The Institute’s role. In 2025, the St. George MSU School Board founded the Lillius Gilchrest Grace Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to provide ongoing funding for the personnel, programs, supplies, and equipment that power PreK–12 CTE and the wider GRACE mission.
OUR APPROACH
Cross-sector. Cradle to career.
Cross-Sector
St. George MSU partners with the MidCoast School of Technology, private businesses and tradespeople, higher education, government agencies, civic groups, nonprofits, and medical providers to create an ecosystem that supports workforce development. Education, health, workforce, and economic growth are interrelated — so we work across all of them at once.
Cradle to Career
Our programs stretch from early childhood through high school graduation, and from recent graduates starting a business to experienced workers gaining new skills. By working across generations, we recognize that a child’s success is tied to the wellbeing and economic security of their family and community.
WHY IT MATTERS
A response to real challenges
Trauma and technology have changed how children learn, and a documented youth mental-health crisis has made engagement harder than ever. At the same time, shortages in the skilled trades and technical fields are limiting economic growth — even as those careers offer good-paying work right here in the Midcoast.
Career & Technical Education is associated with higher student engagement, stronger academic achievement, better post-secondary outcomes, and higher earnings. By investing now — starting in the earliest grades — we build a more resilient community that can adapt to change on its own terms.