TDECU & BridgeYear bring career test drives to Bay City Junior High

  • Sentinel Photo/Jessica Shepard Bay City Junior High students get a chance to experience a mock career demonstration on how a phlebotomist performs their job then try their hand at drawing “blood” at BridgeYear’s “Career Test Drive Fair” on Oct. 12. The BridgeYear event was made possible by a $15,000 TDECU donation.
    Sentinel Photo/Jessica Shepard Bay City Junior High students get a chance to experience a mock career demonstration on how a phlebotomist performs their job then try their hand at drawing “blood” at BridgeYear’s “Career Test Drive Fair” on Oct. 12. The BridgeYear event was made possible by a $15,000 TDECU donation.

        Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU) recently announced a collaboration with BridgeYear to host a “Career Test Drive Fair” at Bay City Junior High. 
       BridgeYear is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students explore career pathways. 
       Its “Career Test Drive Fair” is a dynamic program designed to provide students with valuable insights into potential careers and educational opportunities. 
       TDECU has generously underwritten this program with a $15,000 contribution, demonstrating its commitment to empowering local students and investing in the future workforce. 
       The event promised to be visually compelling, featuring engaging activities and displays that showcase the talents and aspirations of the students. 
       Those career practice stations included high-demand job options like automotive technician, electrician, network technician, phlebotomist, refinery operator, and surgery technologist. 
       Along with hands-on demonstrations, students received informational booklets outlining each job and its educational requirements from certifications to degree paths. 
       The booklets had brief questionnaires to help students figure out their areas of career interests while rotating through the demonstration sections. 
       “The synergy between TDECU’s mission to boost communities and our collaboration with BridgeYear is incredible,” said Gulf Coast Market President Josh Brian. 
       “It’s inspiring to see what these young minds are achieving, especially in terms of making a positive impact on the world around us.” 
       “Through our comprehensive programming, we have dramatically increased enrollment into community colleges and other workforce training programs that provide for long-term economic stability and require less time than a four-year degree,” said BridgeYear Executive Director and co-founder Victoria Chen. 
       “We want to work with putting students in high-demand jobs that align with their interests and for some that’s not always going to be a four-year degree path. These demonstrations allow students to see what these jobs entail and could hopefully spark their interest.”