Throughout most of his life, Jaylin Thompson has struggled to settle on a desired career path. However, it wasn’t until his late grandmother needed long-term care that he decided to pursue nursing and help those facing similar struggles.
Earlier this year, Thompson told his story to State Superintendent Dr. Antoinette Mitchell during her visit to the District’s newest Advanced Technical Center (ATC) in Congress Heights. That’s where, throughout much of the week, Jaylin is taking coursework to obtain college credit and certification as a clinical medical assistant.
“I just wanted to be a nurse to help people. My grandmother didn’t get the same respect [when] she was in the nursing home,” Jaylin told Mitchell on the afternoon of Oct. 22 at the Congress Heights ATC, currently located on St. Elizabeths East Campus at the Whitman-Walker-Max Robinson Center. “I want to be there to assure people that their loved one is being taken care of— and not in a different way [where] they think or see nurses sometimes.”
Jaylin counts among nearly 60 students from 15 District public and public charter schools who are taking college-level classes at the Congress Heights ATC. While their 310 counterparts in the Ward 5 ATC pursue general nursing and cybersecurity, Jaylin and his peers at the Congress Heights ATC have chosen to take either the clinical medical assistant pathway or the pathway for emergency medical technicians.
That means, over the next two years, they will learn: psychology; medical terminology; pre-anatomy and physiology, among other relevant coursework. The student said that, with the support of teachers and peers, he’s already risen to the occasion.
“My goal… is thriving in places I don’t think I would, and basically [coming] up out of my comfort zone,” Jaylin, a 10th grader at Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School (PCS) in Northeast, said. “I’m not really social…but being at ATC has made me thrive. I study now and take notes. I haven’t usually done that. I really want to be here.”
D.C. Officials Herald the Further Expansion of a Career-and-Technical Education Infrastructure
The ATC in Congress Heights officially opened in August.
Mitchell joined D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8), Ward 8 ATC Administrator Maisha Wise, and representatives of Whitman-Walker Health and Bloomberg Philanthropies on the morning of Oct. 2 to celebrate the center’s launch.
A $9.5 million contribution from Bloomberg Philanthropies supports activities at the Ward 8 ATC, as well as DC Health care and Apprenticeship Link (DC HEAL), an apprenticeship program that provides direct-to-work opportunities for the District’s career and technical education (CTE) program graduates.
For Mitchell, the launch of the District’s newest ATC serves a response to an ever-evolving job market.
“We identified high-demand, high-skilled careers in terms of the openings that will be here in the city,” Mitchell told The Informer. “We wanted to make sure that there were jobs waiting for the kids when they finished the programs of study. We did extensive community outreach and looked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify those fields that will…have openings for kids when they finish.”
The Ward 8 ATC’s launch follows the 2022 launch of the Ward 5 ATC, currently located at the Lemuel Penn Center in Northeast. Students at both locations leave their school in the middle of each school day and take college-level courses with instructors from the University of the District of Columbia and Trinity Washington University.
They have the chance to earn up to 26 college credits and industry credentials, and partake in summer internships starting at $17 per hour.
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) oversees the program, which Mitchell calls the “cherry on top” for a jurisdiction hosting CTE programs in 30 public and public charter high schools.
“It is a center where kids from all the high schools can come and interact with this really expensive and great equipment and learn the pathways that are here,” Mitchell told The Informer. “But we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we’ve got almost 8,000 kids taking CTE courses in their high schools. We want to take the learnings from this ATC and make sure that we are pushing the learnings down to our high schools.”
During a recent trip to D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services (DC FEMS) headquarters, Ward 8 ATC students worked with cadaver models. That trip built upon work students completed at Ward 8 ATC with an Anatomage Table, which showcases 3-D models of bodies that have been donated to science. That’s how students examine the different parts of the body and learn to recognize signs of disease.
Ward 8 ATC Administrator Wise hinted at students’ future introduction to virtual reality technology through which they can deeply examine the brain, heart and other bodily organs. She said that the technology accentuates a well-rounded curriculum that allows students enough flexibility to pursue a variety of career fields.
“We don’t offer general nursing here at Ward 8, but all of the health care pathways that we offer can lead them into nursing if that’s what they so choose,” Wise told The Informer. “If they want to be doctors, if they want to be physical therapy assistants, that’s the role of health care is open to them. This is just the entryway that they’re starting with.”
A Student Inches Closer to Fulfilling a Vision
Friendship Collegiate Academy PCS student Elija Crews said she’s missed pep rallies and other school activities while at the Ward 8 ATC. She calls it one of the best parts of her week.
On Oct. 22, Elija sat alongside Jaylin as they both spoke to State Superintendent Mitchell. During their conversation, Elija recounted lessons she learned in her ATC psychology course about the three components of the human psyche, as identified by Sigmund Freud: id, ego and superego.
“Psychology really made me want to do this more because I’m really interested in criminal justice,” Elija, a 10th grader, told Mitchell. “It really opened my eyes and made me want to… learn about the human brain and different theories.”
With the newly opened Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health a stone’s throw away from the Ward 8 ATC, Elija continued to reflect on what attracted her to nursing. The sophomore told Mitchell that, by navigating the ATC’s clinical medical assistant pathway, she’s fulfilling a long-held vision.
“I always wanted to be a nurse,” Elija said. “I just like everything about nursing and being able to help people. I’m able to help the world because it’s a really dangerous place. For me to be able to make an impact in the world, that’s what I want to do.”