CYD Employment and Alternatives Coordinator Julissa Lopez speaks with HPHS students about training programs.

CYD’s approach to advising high school students is based on a simple goal: all students should graduate with a postsecondary plan. What goes into these plans, however, is anything but simple. Students today have a variety of options: college, vocational training programs, gap year programs, military service, and immediate employment of all kinds.

“Not all students want to go to college right after high school, are ready for it, or can afford to go. We want to make sure they are aware of alternative pathways.”

– Terry Carroll, CYD’s Director of Workforce

CYD ensures that our advisors are prepared to talk to students about both college and careers. Executive Director Michael Roberts explained, “We instituted cross-training in 2015, when we realized that our students needed information about multiple pathways. Alumni were coming back and asking for help finding alternatives to college, or ways to earn more while going to college.”

Keeping our students out of debt is a priority for CYD, and one of the ways we approach this is by helping students earn credentials that will enable them to participate in the workforce at a higher and potentially family-sustaining level. Our staff connects students with training programs and helps prepare them with the skills they need to succeed in these programs. We also make students aware that continuing their education is always an option. CYD’s dual focus on college and career gives our students access to the information, connections, and support they need to find the right path for them.

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