Golden Leaf- Open Grant- School to Healthcare Pipeline

Mount Airy City Schools (MACS) was recently awarded $200,000 from the Golden Leaf Foundation Open grant to expand the health science education pathway and improve workforce preparedness through a partnership with Northern Regional Hospital (NRH), Surry County Schools (SCS), and Surry Community College (SCC).

 

 

The North Carolina Career and Technical Education (CTE) coursework and Career and College Promise (CCP) programming currently allow our students to participate in Nursing Fundamentals, also known as Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). This allows students to earn employable credentials while taking these courses in the traditional high school and/or college environment paired with limited work-based experiences during their practicum requirements. Through this project's external funding and the commitments from our partners at NRH and SCC, we will soon be able to expand and improve the work-based components of the health science pathways for MACS and SCS students. In addition, this programming will improve the workforce preparedness needed for Surry County. 

 

Locally, this project would also support the following outcomes for our county:

• Students from MACS and SCS will have direct access to CNA coursework within our local hospital; this will develop a direct pipeline of trained CNAs to feed into the workforce, also supporting the high need for healthcare professionals in Surry County.
• NRH, serving as one of the largest employers in Surry County, with over 900 caregivers, will gain first-hand experience to train a potential future workforce
• Students (and families) will have additional access to CCP coursework through SCC in the health science pathway for free while earning high school and college credits.
• NC STAR jobs identify the Registered Nurse (RN) position as a 5-star job based on wages, projected growth rate, and job openings. In 2021, there were 106,571 RNs, with a projected need to increase to 116,976 by 2030, which is approximately a 10 percent increase in demand. Opportunities like this would support the school-to-college and healthcare pipeline. Additionally, health care and social assistance is the second-largest industry sector in Surry County, employing 4,097 workers (2022). The average annual wage in this sector is $46,050, which is above the Surry County annual average salary of $41,104.

 

For questions regarding your student's opportunity for engagement in this program please start with Alicia Henson, school counselor, Mount Airy High School. She can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 336-789-5147. 

 

For questions regarding grant management, please contact Penny Willard, executive director of innovation at Mount Airy City Schools. She can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 336-786-8355.