A Lincoln Public SchoolsFocus Program

by Christina Oldfather

Lincoln’s youth have never had more innovative options to explore potential careers and become workforce and future-ready. Through Lincoln Public Schools Focus Program offerings and post-high school programs like The Bay’s Gap Year, students can learn about all the options available to them and easily get on the right track for a career they love.

Since 1997, Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) has offered high school students the opportunity to choose their own path through its Focus Programs. Focus Program students take courses at their home high school for a portion of the day and then attend a Focus Program to dive deep into their interests and passions through career exploration and experiential learning.

Focus Programs partner with businesses, universities, and colleges to allow students to earn college credit, work on real-world projects, and engage in immersive experiences through LPS Focus Programs, ensuring they are well-equipped for what comes next.

In 2022-2023, LPS Focus Programs enrolled over 1400 students with personalized learning opportunities in 10 different Focus Programs, including Arts and Humanities; Aviation and Technical Education; Health Sciences; Early College and Career STEM; International Baccalaureate; Air Force Junior Officer Training Corps; Nebraska Business; Science Focus; The Career Academy; and Bay High, one of the newest LPS Focus programs.

The Bay High Focus Program is a partnership between Lincoln Public Schools and The Bay, an award-winning youth engagement and workforce education space that connects youth’s passions with the jobs of tomorrow. The Bay believes traditional opportunities don’t resonate with all youth, leaving many disconnected and apathetic. So the nonprofit uses music, digital content creation, fashion and skateboarding as tools to guide hard-to-reach youth—ages 5 to 24 — toward better outcomes.

The Bay High Focus Program began in 2022 as a public/private partnership. Business champions such as ALLO, Spreetail, Ameritas, Union Bank & Trust, Archrival, Swanson Russell and more, along with Cooper Foundation and Acklie Charitable Fund, teamed up with The Bay and Lincoln Public Schools to make this one-of-a-kind learning experience possible. Bay High serves creative, entrepreneurial-minded high school juniors and seniors seeking deeper experiences in business, marketing, management, information technology, and entrepreneurship. Students prepare to be tomorrow’s successful creators and innovators by learning skills in photography and videography, coding and development, design and digital asset creation, and digital storytelling and podcasting.

Bay High students are also given real-world projects and matched with mentors at partner companies. One example involves Bay High students creating online product descriptions for Spreetail, including taking product photos, writing the product description, and designing digital content.

Bay High Clubs are something students can’t find anywhere else. The Bay staff specialists work directly with students during the school day to help them further explore skateboarding and design, music performance and production, fashion, and entrepreneurship. A partnership with the University of Nebraska College of Journalism gives students enhanced podcasting and video production opportunities.

The Bay also offers workforce education programming for post-high school students. Gap Year at The Bay is a non-LPS-affiliated 8-month skill and career accelerator designed to give 18-24 year olds the knowledge, skills, and relationships to reach one of three outcomes: go to college, get a job, or start a business. Gap Year students receive the tools and structure to explore opportunities, plan for their future, gain skills and certifications, and acquire paid work experience.

Gap Year consists of two semesters. The first semester provides students with immersive, hands-on experiences in a variety of businesses, careers, and industries — crucial to showing youth opportunities exist that connect to the things they are passionate about. Students wrap up the semester by taking Design Your Life, a course that uses design thinking to create a life plan to guide them in selecting their pathway for the remainder of their Gap Year journey and building the life they want to live.

During the second semester, Gap Year students select a learning pathway where they build the technical skills they need to execute their plan successfully. Students can select a learning pathway in music, fashion, entrepreneurship, photography and videography, graphic design, culinary arts, software development, reverse logistics or manufacturing. These pathways pair learning with industry expertise from Bay staff and many partners, including The Hub Cafe, Don’t Panic Labs, Southeast Community College Entrepreneurship Center, Nebraska Innovation Studio, Lincoln Manufacturing Council, and Spreetail. In addition, Gap Year students can also complete a Google certification in UX design, digital marketing, project management, data analysis, IT support, cybersecurity or Google IT automation.

Following the learning pathway, Gap Year students complete a capstone project that showcases what they have learned and complete a paid internship via a partnership with the American Job Center. Students can intern for The Bay, running events like Art + Thrift, a monthly youth vendor fair, or Live at The Bay, a monthly youth concert. Gap Year students who intern for The Bay help create for-youth and by-youth events and learn important event planning and project management skills tied to entrepreneurship, music, art, and skateboarding. Students can also intern with other businesses, learning directly from the experts in their chosen fields. These paid internships provide hands-on work experience and connections in their chosen industry, giving them a competitive edge for future opportunities and a direct connection from training to employment.

Gap Year students also complete their Future Ready Track, a set of accomplishments and skills designed to ensure that they are prepared to take full advantage of the opportunities. The Future Ready Track includes life, career and relationship skills, such as financial literacy, obtaining a driver’s license, opening a bank account, time management, conflict resolution, registering to vote, building a Personal Board of Directors, networking skills, and how to make your resume or portfolio, among many others. The Future Ready Track provides Gap Year graduates with the soft and technical skills necessary to be ready for the careers of the future.

The future of workforce education is thriving in Lincoln. The opportunities available through Lincoln Public Schools Focus Programs and The Bay’s Gap Year career and skill accelerator are creating the innovative and creative workforce of the future. 

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