Connecting Young Leaders to Brighter Futures with K12 Foothill Consortium and Kaiser Permanente
Last summer, Think Together, the K12 Foothill Consortium and Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park joined forces to expand career exploration opportunities for high school students in Azusa Unified School District.
The K12 Foothill Consortium partners with Career Technical Education (CTE) departments at local school districts, including Think Together partner Azusa High School. Its mission is to prepare and train students to build a community-based talent pipeline that supports a strong, balanced local economy. Supported by the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, the K12 Foothill Consortium has helped forge partnerships with local businesses to provide student internship opportunities.
Through the partnership with K12 Foothill Consortium, participating Think Together students were placed in local medical internships, providing firsthand insight into the daily responsibilities, challenges and rewards of careers in health care.
Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park awarded Think Together a community health grant to support the Workforce Readiness Education Program (WREP), which made it possible to offer internship stipends to participating students. Prior to beginning their internships, Think Together students were required to attend WREP for five weeks. With the help of their program leaders, they learned how to present themselves in an interview, complete a resume and apply for a job. Once completed, students were placed in their paid internships, working for a total of 40 hours.
Research from the Association of American Medical Colleges projects that there will be an expected shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034. To combat these statistics, Think Together’s work with K12 Foothill Consortium lets students explore careers in biomedical research and health sciences.
“This internship has helped shape my future goals by expanding my horizon on the perspective of the careers here,” said Think Together student, Hillary Torres. “It also pushed my passion for science even more.”
With more than 9,000 students participating in Think Together’s high school program, the program offers young leaders the opportunity to have hands-on career exploration experiences that empower them to discover their interests, build confidence and envision a future beyond the classroom.
“I hope these internships help students build connections with people in the field who can lead and mentor them, even throughout their college years,” said Program Content Specialist Sean Magana. “Maybe they see this as an opportunity they can give back to their community and mentor other students so their community can grow.”
Think Together is grateful for the K12 Foothill Consortium and Kaiser Permanente for opening its doors and inspiring the next generation of doctors, nurses and health care professionals.
View the video below to see how this opportunity made a difference.
