Helping Houston-Area Students Choose Career Pathways

Helping Houston-Area Students Choose Career Pathways

Celeste Gonzalez was 10 years old when Hurricane Harvey struck Southeast Texas in 2017 destroying her grandmother's Houston-area home.

Gonzalez and her family joined volunteers to clean debris and deliver food to victims, and they moved her grandmother into their home 30 minutes north while crews rebuilt. During that time she remembers her grandmother struggling to adjust and battling Alzheimer's-like symptoms before passing away.

Those experiences were with Gonzalez this year during her senior year of high school when she came across an organization called BridgeYear offering a no-cost pathway to become a certified nursing assistant. The opportunity was just what she was looking for.

"I always felt like it was my job to help people," says Gonzalez, who's now 18. "I felt like that was my purpose, but I didn't know what I wanted to be."

Celeste Gonzalez

Alternate pathways

Two college counselors founded BridgeYear in 2016 to connect Houston-area high schoolers with good-paying, stable career pathways that don't require four years in college.

Houston schools and employers work with BridgeYear and other local organizations to enroll students in affordable training programs and help them pursue careers as electricians, automotive and HVAC technicians and certified nursing assistants, among other careers.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is providing BridgeYear a $15,000 Blue Impact^SM grant to cover the costs for three students to complete the program's career cohort track. The program covers tuition, tools, books, uniforms, transportation costs or related items participants may need.

The Blue Impact^SM grant program targets social and economic factors that influence health, including economic opportunity and stability that's vital to better health outcomes.

"A lot of students I worked with would tell me that they couldn't afford to go to college, and others would say I don't like school now, why would I want to go to more school," says Victoria Chen, one of BridgeYear's founders. "We both felt like we were failing our students because we weren't giving them the options that they were interested in."

Fewer than one in four high school students have had conversations about non-college pathways including apprenticeships and internships or careers that don't need a degree, according to a recent survey of Gen Z students.

"Throughout our 95 years of serving Texas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas remains committed to the belief that lasting change is built through collective action and community-driven solutions," said Patty Escoe, Vice President of Texas Plan Operations. "We're honored to support BridgeYear in addressing issues like poverty, removing barriers to employment, providing good jobs and upskilling. We know by empowering their expertise and passion to strengthen the Houston communities' economic opportunity and stability, we're helping inspire healthier futures."

In the 2023-24 school year, BridgeYear served more than 12,600 students. And more than 80% of students served each year have limited financial resources.

After completing a hands-on career simulation, graduating seniors can enroll in the career cohort track where they're matched with a counselor for consistent check-ins to ensure they're progressing through the program and study groups to help them prepare for certification exams.

After graduating, students can begin their career path or go back to college if they choose.

Helping people

Gonzalez graduated high school in August and completed the five-week CNA program with her certified nursing assistant certification. She's currently studying to obtain her Texas state CNA license.

In spring 2026, she'll begin classes at Texas State University. She says she's excited to start her path toward a career in nursing and hopes to one day own her own eyelash business.

"I want to help people one-on-one," Gonzalez says. " I saw my grandma struggle before she died, and I felt like I could do more. I plan on working in a clinic and going up the ladder from there to become an RN."