Four years ago, Olivia was on the fast track to trouble. A student at a large, inner-city school in Texas where young people routinely passed through metal detectors, Olivia had little time or energy for school. She had grown up in a broken home and had been the victim of abuse and violence. Her circle of friends was into drugs, petty crime and gang activity. After repeated suspensions, Olivia dropped out, partway through her sophomore year.

A year later, she moved to Austin and enrolled in James Bowie High School. She hung on, but with no direction or motivation and no plans for what she might do after graduation. Her grade point average was 1.0.

Things turned around in her senior year. An attentive counselor at the school, knowing of Olivia's experience working in restaurants and her love of food preparation, suggested that Olivia enroll in the school's Culinary Arts Catering Program. Once in the program, Olivia worked in the school's own student-run catering business and participated in structured internships at the University of Texas on-campus catering business and at the Central Market. In addition, she was matched with a mentor, a local chef.

These real-world experiences and the caring relationship with her mentor and her culinary arts teacher helped Olivia believe in herself and find new motivation and drive. She graduated high school with significantly better grades and began working at a full-service resort and inn as well as at her mentor's restaurant. In the fall, now 18 years old and encouraged to achieve by her mentor, Olivia entered a registered apprenticeship program to become a certified chef.

"Everything ties in. [At school], they teach us all this theory, all the math that goes along with a machine and all the science that deals with levers and pulleys. [At school], you learn while you're working. Hopefully, it leads me to a better job in the future."

- Fred

"Getting an education means more than just going to school. I don't take things for granted anymore, because everything I do now will affect me in life later on. I know when to fool around and when to be serious. If you had known me two years ago, you would have thought differently about me."

- Marsha

Carl, a sophomore, attends a career academy in a close-knit school-within-a-school that operates within a large comprehensive high school that has strong support and involvement from industry and postsecondary partners. Carl has the same team of teachers for his academy classes, which include English, math, science and social studies, computer applications, and health occupations. Several classes are linked with local community colleges as part of a Tech Prep partnership. Carl and his classmates are "block-scheduled," facilitating a special interdisciplinary curriculum, group projects, and field experiences. Carl keeps a portfolio documenting his work.

This year, Carl will perform 100 hours of volunteer service in a hospital, earn CPR and first aid certification, attend health career conferences, and go on frequent field trips to health and science facilities. He will maintain weekly contact with an adult mentor, who works in either healthcare or bio-science. As a junior, he will explore careers by rotating through a series of medical and business departments in health care facilities, and he will be trained as a health peer educator. He will have paid internships in the summers following junior and senior years, and during the second semester of senior year. As an intern, he will also keep a journal, attend weekly workplace reflection seminars, and participate in community-based projects.

As a senior, he will produce a major health-related project, with teachers and industry partners as his coaches, and complete a portfolio of his work in the academy. After graduation, Carl can enter community college programs in allied health, biotechnology, nursing, or physical therapy, continue his education at a four-year institution, or get a skilled, entry-level job.

"My grades went up. I wanted to do better than I had been doing before because the program had made me realize that there is so much out there for me to learn, and if I don't have that knowledge, I won't be able to make it in the real world. That's what I've learned from the experience."

- Claudia

"The best thing about this program is learning through high school the hands-on experience that I needed in terms of focusing on what I really wanted to do in the nursing field. It gave me exposure and clinical experience and networking with the professionals, and I was able to project myself in five years that this is how I wanted to be.....I was able to develop my skills that we really don't learn in high school lecture classes."

- Brenda