RISE Caldwell-Watauga Featured in EdNC's Awake58

RISE Caldwell-Watauga was the lead story in the September 22 edition of Awake58, EdNC's weekly newsletter on North Carolina community colleges, written by EdNC CEO and Editor-in-Chief Mebane Rash.

The feature opens with Solomon Triplett, who spent last spring as a Watauga High School senior working weekday afternoons in the ICU at Watauga Medical Center through RISE. That experience changed how he saw healthcare and nursing. Solomon is now a first-year student at UNC-Chapel Hill, and he hopes to come back to Boone one day to live and work as a nurse. Stories like his are exactly why RISE exists: helping young people discover a future close to home.

EdNC describes RISE as one of a small number of new efforts across the state that bring school districts, community colleges, employers, and community partners together to build homegrown talent pipelines. Through RISE, high school students explore careers through internships, pre-apprenticeships, and apprenticeships, gaining paid, real-world experience, mentorship, and a monthly stipend that helps cover the costs of participating.

CCC&TI President Mark Poarch told EdNC that the program has "really made a difference" for students, and added that employers are already seeing real value from it as well.

We're grateful to Mebane Rash, Analisa Sorrells Archer, and the EdNC team for visiting and telling this story, and to the students, schools, employers, and partners who make RISE possible.

Read the full story and watch EdNC's short video on RISE at EdNC.org: "RISE Caldwell-Watauga is training the next generation of workers."

Read EdNC's Awake58 feature on RISE: https://www.ednc.org/awake58/building-a-homegrown-talent-pipeline-through-rise-caldwell-watauga/