BY STEPHANIE STEMMLER

What’s the best way to encourage students to think about a rewarding career in health care? How can hospitals fill a growing number of vacancies in key health care professions? In St. Louis, health care institutions and educators know first-hand that a new, four-year immersion school for high school students, BELIEVE Academy, is answering those questions.

“It’s hard to hold in my excitement,” says Aryana Jones as she laughs and throws her hands up in the air. “This program is the real deal!”

Aryana, 16, has just wrapped up a full day of learning at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. The freshman high school student is at the hospital one to two days a week, not only shadowing in various departments but also receiving training through hands-on activities. “I thought we were going to just watch how people did things, but in this program, we do it ourselves,” says Aryana. “We do the things we learn, and we do them in a real hospital.”

Aryana is one of 120 students enrolled in BELIEVE Academy, a new charter school that debuted in the City of St. Louis in fall 2024. Here, students not only take rigorous academic courses, but also are immersed in an intense, hands-on, health-sciences track that has students spending 60% of their time in the classroom and the rest at a local BJC HealthCare hospital or at Barnes Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing.

BELIEVE Academy debuts as the health care workforce shortage is at a critical tipping point nationwide. The federal Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) notes that there is currently a 78,000-plus shortage of nurses in the United States. Within the next 10 years, significant declines in other core health-science jobs also are anticipated.

With an eye on that critical list of workforce needs, BJC HealthCare and BELIEVE created six career-immersion programs: nursing, clinical lab sciences, respiratory care, radiologic technology, surgical-related services, and professional support. Going far beyond one-day field trips and short-term summer camps that have been offered by hospitals across the country for years, the curriculum at BELIEVE embeds students in health care settings throughout their four years of education. This model is unique in the region and has its origins in a community partnership between BJC HealthCare, The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, BELIEVE Academy, and The Opportunity Trust, a nonprofit organization that works to build transformative schools for students and increase future access to quality education and career paths. Last year, this partnership was awarded a one-year pilot grant through Bloomberg Philanthropies’ health care education initiative to open the immersion program at BELIEVE.

STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM BELIEVE ACADEMY’S HANDS-ON TEACHING MODEL.

Photography by Gregg Goldman

“Health care providers continue to face persistent labor challenges, and it is crucial that we develop innovative partnerships to respond to the challenges of today and invest in the health care leaders of tomorrow,” says Jenny Kane, program lead for Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Career and Technical Education portfolio. “By combining classroom learning with hands-on experience, specialized health care high schools will prepare students for careers with opportunities for growth and advancement.” John Lynch, MD, president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, says, “BELIEVE provides a community-centered pathway to some of the most important jobs in our community. It’s about improving patient care and health outcomes for all. And it’s about the role of education and health in improving people’s lives. We are grateful to Bloomberg Philanthropies for their generous investment in this new partnership.”

Jennifer Irvin, MHSA, CHW-C, school-community education partner for BJC HealthCare, notes, “This is the first education model where we can impact students throughout high school and position them to successfully obtain health care jobs or pursue the advanced education they need for a wide variety of health care careers.”

It does take a village

Leaders at Goldfarb School of Nursing helped recruit top teachers for BELIEVE Academy, and professionals at the school and at BJC-member hospitals worked on curriculum design. In addition to providing onsite supervision and education of the high school students while training in hospitals, many staff also oversee training in the school’s Health Simulation (Sim) Lab, built with in-kind donations from The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital. All involved are working toward a single goal—engaging students in dynamic, real-world experiences and introducing them to a wide range of career pathways while also providing training in specific skill sets.

Aryana Jones has been excited from Day One. Now, more than halfway through her first year, her enthusiasm continues to grow. “Yesterday, I worked on skills for my patient-care tech certification, learning how to change a bed with a manikin on it in the Sim Lab. Then I went to the hospital and did it for real,” she says. “I also got certified to take vital signs. How cool is that.”

BELIEVE ACADEMY’S SIMULATION LAB HELPS REINFORCE CLASSROOM EDUCATION

Photography by Gregg Goldman Medicine

Aryana also has had eye-opening experiences at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, and in radiology, and says she never knew there were so many different career opportunities. She is now focused on becoming a traveling nurse after she graduates high school and completes a nursing program.

Aryana’s aspirations are gratifying, says Jawn Manning, principal resident and program coordinator at BELIEVE Academy. “Our education model enables students to earn various industry certifications or an associate degree while also earning their high school diploma,” she says. “This lifts the entire community up by opening the pipeline earlier to good-paying careers that students may not have known existed.”

The ability to earn an associate degree is part of the school’s broad dual-enrollment program, which allows all students to take college-level classes at St. Louis Community College in addition to their high school courses. Whereas other high schools allow students to dual enroll only during their final year, 23% of freshman students in the first cohort at BELIEVE have taken advantage of the opportunity.

“We’d like to see 100% of our students become dual-enrolled during their four years with us,” says Tambra Pendleton, BELIEVE Academy’s St. Louis principal. “That would remove some of the barrier of student loan debt and also help our students enter their chosen professions faster.”

Freshman Deshon Luckett, 15, agrees. “Dual enrollment is free, and it helps me to achieve the opportunities that I want for myself,” he says. “I’m determined to do what I need to do to achieve my goals.”

Deshon is taking college English and psychology courses in his first year at BELIEVE Academy. And, after a month-long immersion in radiology at WashU Medicine, he is leaning toward a career as a medical dosimetrist. “I think the hands-on experiences in radiology—seeing how nurses and doctors help patients with health issues—really showed me what I could do,” he says, then leans forward to emphasize a crucial component of the program’s early success. “It’s hands-on. That’s what we get. I think the experiences at the hospital and in the Sim Lab are more important than just learning about something in a classroom,” he stresses. “And then to be supported with other opportunities to help get my education—that is a plus.”

“Every day I watch our kids engage in dynamic experiences, and I see fireworks go off in their brains,” says Tambra. “Deshon was looking at radiology and cancer because he has a relative with cancer. He now recognizes that he can help improve health care for his family and the community. Sometimes, kids don’t know how or even what to dream; but they can believe in themselves—and that’s what we are all about. Creating a safe place for them to learn and try new things.”

In its first year, BELIEVE Academy received more than 200 applications for 120 openings. The school plans to increase enrollment each year as students move through the program, bringing in a new cohort of 120 students annually. With growing visibility in the community and increasing demand, Jawn says BELIEVE is moving to a new, larger location this summer. “We also will expand the size of the Sim Lab and broaden our dual-enrollment partnerships to include other colleges next fall,” she adds.

BJC Healthcare, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and Goldfarb School of Nursing are all doubling down to create more opportunities to embed students in interactive learning. For instance, paid onsite internships will be offered to BELIEVE students this summer. Jennifer Irvin, MHSA, CHWC, school community education partner for BJC HealthCare, says the program also is working to loosen age restrictions so that highly qualified students can work in some jobs earlier than age 18. “For this to work, every partner must be in it for the long haul,” says Jennifer, who founded BJC’s school outreach careers and school partnership program 30 years ago. “The work by hospitals and health systems to develop school partnerships is not new, but it is continually evolving. I believe in what we’ve helped to create at BELIEVE. We can take this model and see it duplicated in other schools, other cities, across the country.”

Steven Player, PharmD, MBA, vice president of Belonging and Inclusion at BJC Health System, calls the health-science high school partnership vital for both the health of the community and the health care workforce. “This partnership fills a gap,” he says. “There’s a need for more health care talent. So, to partner with a school focused on developing the next generation of health care providers is critically important.”

Is BELIEVE Academy effective? Says Aryana, “This program challenges me and pushes me to do things I wouldn’t normally do. It’s making me want to come to school every day because every day is something new and hands-on.” She adds, “Education like that sticks in your brain.”