Global Pharmaceutical Supply Group (GPSG), a Johnson & Johnson company in Vacaville, California, partnered with the University of California, Davis, School of Education on the BTE program at Dixon High School in Solano County, California.
This three-year project sought to increase student enrollment in higher education and raise the number of students pursuing careers in healthcare / science-related fields. The partners specifically designed this project to address community, cultural and educational system challenges (including, the lack of information about higher education for non-traditional and under-represented minority populations, college preparation activities, parental support, role models, and familiarity with education pathways leading to high-tech, high-wage jobs) that serve as barriers to academic success at high school and access to higher education for a significant faction of the student population.
The BTE students were recruited from the 10th Grade AVID class in fall 2007. During years 1 and 2, student activities included:
- Test taking workshops for the PSAT and SAT;
- A monthly brown-bag seminar series from GPSG professionals focused on career counseling and job skill development;
- College campus tours;
- Sessions on financial aid and college applications; and
- A visit to the GPSG worksite for tours, meetings with mentors, and a student presentation to site leaders.
Each year ended with a culminating event — a four-night / four-day summer camp experience at the University of California, Davis campus. During the camp students experienced: campus and department tours; living in the dormitory; an orientation to college life; hands-on activities in the science labs, entomology museum, and world-renown Veterinary School of Medicine; cultural events; learning sessions on presentation and study skills; lectures on careers in healthcare; observation of college-level lectures; college student panels; and team-building recreational events. To encourage parental involvement, a reception was held for the students and their parents on the last evening of the summer camp.
Year 3 activities involved: college preparatory skill building; application and financial aid workshops; career portfolio development; and the continued brown-bag seminar series.
