Thanks to LARC’s K12 Strong Workforce Program funding, middle and high school students from Lynwood Unified School District students have experienced expanded access to healthcare and biotechnology instruction, both at Compton College and Charles Drew University. In the 2021-22 school year, Lynwood high school students were able to take Introduction to Biotechnology with Compton College instructors at the college campus. Not only were students bused to and from their school to attend classes, but they also earned college credit along the way and were exposed to a growing career field.
Lynwood’s middle schoolers, on the other hand, have been able to gain supplemental instruction in STEM and Medicine related instruction through the Charles Drew University (CDU) Mobile STEMM Labs program over the last 3 years. These programs, focusing on Life
Science, Human Anatomy, and Physiology, allowed middle school students to work with CDU graduate students and instructors on STEM related projects every week for an hour on their own campus.
High school students were also able to work with CDU instructors thanks to the Community Health Youth Advocate program. Participants of this online service-learning program are developed into leaders in health care and challenged to improve their communities by learning about the healthcare landscape, it’s local and global disparities, and what’s needed for a degree and career in the healthcare field. Students who successfully completed the program, including an internship in the community, earned a $1,000 stipend and were connected to a network of healthcare professionals.
We encourage our K-12 schools across LA to connect with us and learn more about the K12 Strong Workforce Program. Each year, the K12 component of the SWP program appropriates $150,000,000 in annual ongoing career education funding to strengthen the pathways for students from secondary to post-secondary education.
