Educators looking for ways to help students get a taste of college or career learning experiences can point them toward Neighborhood Learning Alliance (NLA) for options.
Through NLA’s High School U (HSU) program, students ages 16-18 can earn college credits and explore careers in any of four fields—Business, Healthcare, Technology & Robotics, and Trades in Advanced Manufacturing. The program is split into School Year HSU and Summer HSU.
Courses are offered through partnerships with Carlow University and Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). HSU is free of charge and transportation is covered with bus passes.
During the school year, HSU is offered on Saturdays for eight weeks in the fall and eight weeks in the spring. Each session runs 5-5 ½ hours, including class, lunch, guest speakers, and tutoring. The summer semester runs seven weeks, from June through early August with applications for the summer semester opening in mid-March. Students aren’t limited to one semester and have the opportunity to enroll for multiple semesters.
Participants receive mentoring and engage in goal setting and planning with NLA team members. During the school year, team members plan college visits and career exploration opportunities which can range from job fairs to job shadows, and even some paying jobs. Summer students typically get career exposure through paying jobs organized under a “Learn and Earn” grant that NLA receives from Partner4Work.
For example, students enrolled in last summer’s health careers pathway took a course in Medical Terminology at Carlow and worked after classes at West Penn Hospital. Among school year job opportunities, NLA has worked with Penn Hills School District to create two technology internships on Penn Hills High School’s IT Help Desk.
NLA Executive Director Kashif Henderson said HSU is primarily aimed at students from lower-income districts. He sees it as being especially valuable for “middle of the road” students, with average grades, who often are “overlooked” because they’re neither excelling nor experiencing any obvious problems.
Among indicators of HSU’s success: Some 98% of enrollees either enter degree programs, enlist in the military, or get jobs immediately after graduation.
But perhaps the biggest tribute to HSU’s impact is “We get great feedback, and our alumni remain very involved,” said Henderson, estimating that “90% or more of our Summer Teaching Assistants are alumni who went through the program themselves.”
Among employers partnering with NLA to support learning in the four career pathways are: West Penn Hospital, Happy Day Dessert Factory, University of Pittsburgh’s Information Technology Department, Allegheny County’s Department of Information Technology, City of Pittsburgh’s Parks & Recreation Department, and CCAC’s West Hills Center.
