Healthcare Connections: Bridging Education and Career Pathways

Over 230 local high school students from the Twin-Counties gathered at Edgecombe Community College Rocky Mount Campus in the Deborah L. Lamm Health Sciences building for STEP’s Healthcare Connections, an exciting annual career exploration event. Students heard from 12 different groups of healthcare professionals where they could ask questions and participate in hands-on activities.

Pamela Gould, Executive Director for STEP sees the importance of exposing students interested in healthcare in an event that gives them direct interaction with practicing professionals in our local hospitals. “Our community deserves the best talent. Many times we find students do not realize all of the opportunities in their own backyard. This is an effort of awareness and retaining the talent our schools are producing.”

CT/MRI Instructor at ECC, Amie Sasser highlights the long-term impact of career exploration. “Healthcare Connections is a great opportunity for young people to learn about all of the aspects of health care. They get to hear from people who actually do the job and then find out how to get started on that career path. As an instructor, you never know when you are planting a seed in a student who will go on to impact hundreds or thousands of lives of patients.”

Edge Academy freshman, Victoria Ramirez-Zambrano, who attended says, “I enjoyed how some of the stations were hands-on and demonstrated the work of the professionals.''

With hands-on experiences and a deeper understanding of career possibilities, STEP’s Healthcare Connections is inspiring the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Pfizer Sponsors Brick City Challenge for 5th Year

Future engineers, designers, and problem-solvers from Edgecombe County Public Schools (ECPS) and Nash County Public Schools (NCPS) put their creativity and collaboration skills to the test during the Twin-Counties Brick City Engineer Challenge on March 14th at the Rocky Mount Event Center. The competition brought together elementary students from across the region to engage in a hands-on STEM challenge focused on teamwork, innovation, and critical thinking.

The Strategic Twin-Counties Education Partnership (STEP) and Pfizer hosted the event, bringing together teams from Edgecombe County Public Schools, Nash County Public Schools, and North East Carolina Prep for a LEGO design challenge that promotes problem-solving, coding, collaboration, and creativity. Pfizer, a key supporter of this initiative, has provided financial support and volunteers for the past five years, helping to impact hundreds of students in STEM education.

"A benefit of the Brick City Challenge is it allows students to work as a team and problem-solve on their own without adult help, and it gives them an experience that they haven't had before," says Katie Barnes, STEM coach from Spring Hope Elementary School.

Upcoming Events!

At the STEM Design Challenge, middle school students build motorized masterpieces with K'Nex and code robots while collaborating with local engineers to level up their problem-solving skills. Who will come out on top?