Step stones for at-risk youth: Community partnership designed to provide English Acquisition students health career exploration and work experience opportunities

In 1997, St. Luke's Hospital and the Bethlehem Area School District developed a partnership to meet specific needs of high-risk English as a Second Language (ESL) students. An internal school district evaluation found that the ESL students not following an ‘academic track' were more likely to engage in high risk behaviors such as truancy, delinquency, unintended pregnancies, and low academic achievement. The partnership developed a program (STW) to provide an avenue for at-risk ESL students to increase graduation rates, improve English skills, reduce absenteeism, improve quality of life, and increase number of bilingual/bicultural healthcare professionals. The School District provides a health care focused curriculum. Rotations at the hospital and interactions with professional staff help students make connections between classroom instructions and potential careers. A partnership between St. Luke's Hospital and the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board has developed two additional programs (HCEP and NSP) that give ESL and other local at-risk students the opportunity to work in a professional setting and gain employment skills in entry level positions in the healthcare environment. Data collected for the STW program shows that 95% of participants graduated high school. 74% enrolled in post-secondary education, with 27% having completed college degrees and 43% are employed in health-related careers. 100% of participants in the HCEP program graduated from high school and 45% of the participants in the NSP have obtained unsubsidized employment. Community partnerships working with ESL students have encouraged students to pursue higher education, improve overall quality of life and diversified the work force.