Connecting career exploration, work-based learning, and credential attainment into a coherent sequence

I spent a few Saturdays ago at Contra Costa College with 50 11th and 12th graders from across the Bay Area’s Contra Costa County who are the first cohort of HealthX Fellows. In the nursing lab, students practiced taking blood pressure and using stethoscopes. In a STEM session, they worked through experiments connected to the kind of college coursework they’d take in healthcare fields.

Two student reflections from the end of the day are sticking with me:

• One student shared that she arrived at HealthX already knowing exactly which healthcare career she wanted to pursue but hearing college students talk about how important it is to follow your passion made her pause. Is the current path she’s pursuing her passion? Or is it what she feels like she should do?
• Another student had the opposite reaction. She said that being in the nursing lab affirmed for her that she’s on the right track – nursing is exactly what she wants to do and she’s feeling even more confident about her next steps.

This was only week one and is why we created the HealthX Fellowship.

Young people are hungry for real-world learning. They want to ask big questions about their futures, explore options, and get on the right path.

These moments are helping us learn what it takes to build career pathways that bridge education and employment.

Building a new model for grades 11-14

At Making Waves, we’re building a new pathway model for grades 11-14 – the last two years of high school and the first two years after graduation.

Developed in partnership with employers, colleges, and high schools, the model aims to blur the lines between K-12, higher education, and career by connecting career exploration, work-based learning, and credential attainment into a coherent sequence.

Our goals:

• Position young people to access high-wage jobs, economic mobility, and fulfilling lives.
• Build talent pipelines for employers into their highest-demand jobs.

HealthX is the first major, five-month long pilot helping us test and refine this model. To understand how this model works in practice, here’s a closer look at the HealthX program itself.

HealthX: Testing and learning in an intermediary role

HealthX is a five-month, paid healthcare fellowship for 11th and 12th graders. It includes:

• Hands-on exposure to allied health careers, like radiologic technology, sonography, and nuclear medicine.
• Durable skill development like communication, collaboration, and metacognition through structured simulations inspired by Next Prep, an initiative of The Opportunity Trust.
• Mentorship from healthcare professionals.
• Enrollment in college and attainment of a Basic Life Support certification.
• A $1,000 stipend.

Through HealthX, we’re testing key questions that will shape a broader 11-14 model:

• Can we play an intermediary role and add value for employers, colleges, schools, and students across the region?
• Can a five-month program strengthen students’ commitment to healthcare pathways and encourage them to pursue dual enrollment, credentials, and related college programs?
• Can out-of-school time serve as a reliable, scalable model for deeper pathway learning across many high schools?
• Does repeated simulation-based practice deepen durable skills such as communication, collaboration, and metacognition?
• How much does social capital grow when students consistently engage with healthcare professionals, college staff, and peers?

Why we chose an out-of-school-time model

An out-of-school-time model is the most practical and scalable way to bring students, employers, and colleges together because it:

• Allows us to recruit students from many different high schools without requiring schools to redesign their calendars.
• Creates space for deeper, hands-on learning on Saturdays, during breaks, and in the summer.
• Ensures equitable participation by offering a stipend so students can participate without having to give up paid work.
• Gives employers flexibility to engage meaningfully without navigating dozens of bell schedules, which supports higher-quality, more consistent partnerships.

First week, immediate impact

Students engaged in hands-on, college activities that helped them imagine themselves in healthcare pathways. They:

• Practiced clinical skills in the nursing lab, including taking blood pressure and listening to heart and lung sounds.
• Completed STEM experiments tied to the coursework they would encounter in a healthcare major.
• Enrolled in their Basic Life Support credential.
• Toured the Contra Costa College campus and envisioned themselves as future college students.
• Built community through intentional relationship building activities.
• Met college students and faculty, building their social capital networks.

The reflections at the end of the day showed how quickly real experiences shift the way young people think about their futures.

Demand for HealthX

This year, we received strong demand from students across Contra Costa County.

• More than 150 applications for 50 spots.
• Accepted students came from 16 high schools across charter and district settings, including schools in Antioch Unified, Martinez Unified, Mount Diablo Unified, Pittsburg Unified, and West Contra Costa Unified; Invictus Academy; Leadership Public Schools; Making Waves Academy; Oakland Military Institute; and Summit Public Schools.

This reinforces that students are eager for paid, career-connected learning experiences and that a regional intermediary can bring together a countywide cohort.

Early lessons from HealthX

We’re learning a ton. Several lessons are emerging from the early stages:

1. Student demand for real-world, career-connected learning is strong

When experiences feel relevant, students will show up, even on evenings and weekends! We received three times more applications than spots available.

2. Out-of-school time is a powerful and underused platform

This approach lets us reach students from many high schools without asking schools to redesign their schedules. It lets us extend learning beyond the classroom and connect students directly with regional employer sites.

3. An intermediary is essential for regional career pathways

Coordinating employers, colleges, and schools is complex. HealthX is showing that an intermediary can align pathways to the labor market, recruit across districts, and design programming in partnership with employers and colleges.

4. Community and belonging have to be woven into every experience

Young people are just as focused on making friends and feeling safe as they are learning about careers. When pathway programming includes community building, students take more risks, engage more deeply, and have fun.

How HealthX brings the grade 11-14 model to life

We are developing a pathway model for grades 11-14 that aligns career exploration, early college credit, credentials, work experience, and strong networks.

HealthX gives 11th and 12th graders a paid, work-based learning experience complete with durable skill-building, mentorship and credential attainment. Over time, we will build out grades 13 and 14, supporting students in postsecondary healthcare programs and coordinating internship and clinical experiences, so students earn a degree or credential, gain work experience, and build strong networks.

As an intermediary, our work benefits students, schools, and employers because we:

• Recruit across many schools and districts
• Align pathway programs with labor market demand
• Build capacity for employer and higher education partners
• Design programming that integrates durable skills, social capital, and work experience
• Address equity barriers through stipends, transportation, and flexible scheduling

What comes next

We’ll learn so much over the next five months, and the student progress will help us refine the healthcare pathway and shape the next stage of our grade 11-14 model.

We’ll also launch Pathways to Health, a shorter paid intensive for 11th and 12th graders that introduces students to nuclear medicine and related fields. This program includes simulations, professional interactions, and exposure to roles with strong wages and job stability. This program serves as another on-ramp into the broader healthcare pathway.

Further ahead, we are beginning to explore a STEM pathway in partnership with employer and higher ed partners.

Thank you to our partners and an invitation

We’re working to build a regional 11-14 intermediary that helps students in the Bay Area move from high school to college and into good jobs with the skills, experiences, and connections they need to thrive. The early lessons from HealthX are already shaping that vision and reminding us how much curiosity and drive young people bring when given the chance.

Thanks so much to our incredible employer, higher ed, and funder partners for working with us to build this program:

• Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences
• Contra Costa College
• Tipping Point Community
• Payette River Foundation

If you’re a school, college, employer, or funder interested in building stronger pathways into high-wage careers, partner with us!