Sunland Park’s new Charter School the Health Sciences Academy is pairing up with a program from California to help students prepare for the future at an early age.
Sarah Acevedo is a parent at the Health Sciences academy. She says that having a goal for the future makes her 7th grade son want to go to school everyday.
“He’s very excited,” Acevedo said. “He loves coming to school here, and because they all have the same focus, which is the medical field, that just gets him even more excited.”
Dr. Thomas Magaña started the FACES for the future program in San Francisco in 1999. The goal was to provide middle school and high school students with internships and training in the health care field to help encourage them to graduate and stay in school.
“Young people should be exposed to career opportunities as early as possible,” Magaña said. “So that number one, they can make informed decisions about what it is they want to do with their life. And also develop their network and skill sets while they are young that will prepare them for entering the workforce as they get older.”
He says that students are more likely to stay in school, if they can directly see how their classes will lead them into a career. And the FACES program doesn’t just show them one career option.
“A lot of our young people have thoughts and ideas about what it is to be in health care,” Magaña said. “And usually those ideas are very limited to kind of the stereotypical careers, medicine, and nursing. But they have no idea about all the other careers that are in health care, and there are so many and we need young people in all those careers. So, the earlier we expose young people, the better chance we have at them choosing alternative career options.”
New Mexico Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Jon Barela says that these are the kind of jobs that are needed in New Mexico.
“Programs like HAS, health sciences academy, are very important to provide that pipeline for employment,” Barela said. “Educate young people, New Mexicans to enter the health care profession. New Mexico reflects the national trend of the gap that exists between the demand for people needing health care, and those who provide it.”
He says programs like this also help encourage people to stay and work in New Mexico.
“Schools like health sciences academy, HSA, will play an important role in developing a workforce pipeline for the health care profession,” Barela said. “They are educating New Mexicans, our kids, and we are very optimistic that once they graduate they will be going on to attend our colleges, universities, two year institutions, and they will ultimately stay here in New Mexico and provide services for our citizens.”
Even though Sarah Acevedo’s son is young, he is looking towards the future and attending college.
“He might be 7th grade that might not be his biggest goal right now,” Acevedo said. “But, in all reality it really is, I’ve seen him and that is his goal he wants to go to college.”
Since the FACES program began, they have had a 100 percent graduation rate. New Mexico is the second state after California to implement the program in a Charter School.
