How a Work-Based Learning Model Is Helping Students Stay in School

Indi­vid­u­al­ized youth intern­ships are keep­ing stu­dents at Del Norte High School in Albu­querque, New Mex­i­co, on track to achieve aca­d­e­m­ic and career goals. By intern­ing at orga­ni­za­tions that address home­less­ness, these stu­dents are build­ing aca­d­e­m­ic and occu­pa­tion­al skills as they con­tribute to their communities.

Dubbed the Del Norte Work-Based Learn­ing (WBL) Ecosys­tem, this col­lab­o­ra­tion of edu­ca­tors, non­prof­its, employ­ers and young peo­ple receives fund­ing from the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion. The pro­gram is part of the Foundation’s Thrive by 25^® com­mit­ment to invest in the well-being and suc­cess of teens and young adults, guid­ed by local part­ners in Albu­querque, Atlanta and Bal­ti­more. Casey’s Thrive by 25 part­ner in Albu­querque is Future Focused Edu­ca­tion (FFE), which works to trans­form edu­ca­tion to bet­ter respond to stu­dents’ and help schools and dis­tricts in strength­en­ing or imple­ment­ing work-based learn­ing programs.

“The program’s ini­tial suc­cess with hous­ing inse­cu­ri­ty shows its poten­tial to meet oth­er basic needs that con­tribute to youth well-being,” said Charles Rutheis­er, a senior asso­ciate at the Foun­da­tion. Secur­ing hous­ing — along with oth­er basic needs such as food, safe­ty, phys­i­cal and men­tal health, trans­porta­tion and child care — allows young peo­ple to bet­ter focus on long-term goals and become self-sufficient.

Pre-Intern­ship Cur­ricu­lum: Build­ing a Foundation

“Del Norte High School is chart­ing new ground as one of the first large, com­pre­hen­sive pub­lic schools in the region to braid New Mexico’s grad­u­a­tion path­ways with work-based learn­ing and com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice-ori­ent­ed cap­stones,” said Kim Lanoy-San­doval, FFE’s exec­u­tive direc­tor. In New Mex­i­co, cap­stone projects show­case skills stu­dents have acquired.

The school serves a cul­tur­al­ly rich, dynam­ic com­mu­ni­ty where fam­i­lies are eager to sup­port their children’s suc­cess. In 2023, FFE con­vened stu­dents, edu­ca­tors and more than 25 pub­lic and pri­vate part­ners to co-design hands-on learn­ing expe­ri­ences that address sev­er­al objectives:

• Keep stu­dents engaged in school.
• Build a local work­force equipped to address urgent com­mu­ni­ty needs.
• Guide stu­dents to iden­ti­fy a spe­cif­ic area of need for their work-based learning.

Mon­e­ka Stevens, FFE’s direc­tor of rec­i­p­ro­cal part­ner­ships, col­lab­o­rates with teach­ers to design this pro­gram­ming. ​“They know their stu­dents best,” said Stevens. ​“My role is to sup­port teach­ers in iden­ti­fy­ing key learn­ing out­comes and to ask stu­dents what they want to learn.”

With as many as 15% of Del Norte stu­dents expe­ri­enc­ing home­less­ness, the stu­dents chose to focus their efforts on hous­ing insecurity.

The WBL Ecosys­tem offers a devel­op­men­tal­ly appro­pri­ate sequence of learn­ing and career prepa­ra­tion. From ninth through 11^th grade, stu­dents fol­low a pre-intern­ship cur­ricu­lum that teach­es work­place skills and expec­ta­tions. As part of the cur­ricu­lum, 11^th grade stu­dents study var­i­ous per­spec­tives on youth home­less­ness. They devel­op ques­tions to lead peer dis­cus­sions, build­ing trans­fer­able skills in crit­i­cal think­ing that apply to mul­ti­ple career paths.

FFE reports that stu­dents who com­plet­ed the pre-intern­ship cur­ricu­lum gained skills in time man­age­ment, prob­lem solv­ing and reflec­tion. The focus on social issues also helped boost self-aware­ness and empathy.

Cap­stone Projects With Real-World Impact

Through its X3 Intern­ship pro­gram, FFE con­nects 11^th and 12^th graders with non­prof­its address­ing youth home­less­ness. These intern­ships offer a stipend of $13 per hour.

In part­ner­ship with ABQ Mutu­al Aid, stu­dents helped dis­trib­ute care pack­ages and explored careers in hous­ing advo­ca­cy and non­prof­it lead­er­ship. The Cap­stone teacher and non­prof­it staff co-designed group expe­ri­ences that deep­ened stu­dent understanding.

It changed my life.
— Cap­stone student

Stu­dents described their Cap­stone expe­ri­ences as pow­er­ful and inspir­ing. They val­ued the oppor­tu­ni­ty to express their views, work inde­pen­dent­ly and with adults and earn real-world cre­den­tials such as the teen Men­tal Health First Aid cer­tifi­cate. ​“It changed my life,” said one student.

Because many Cap­stone stu­dents have expe­ri­enced home­less­ness them­selves, teach­ers and staff col­lab­o­rate with Albu­querque Pub­lic Schools’ McK­in­ney-Ven­to Pro­gram to help these stu­dents suc­ceed aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly. The pro­gram also joined the Cap­stone launch and will sup­port intern­ships in the com­ing year.

In May 2025, stu­dents pro­posed a youth-led resource cen­ter to school admin­is­tra­tors. This cen­ter would serve as a peer-to-peer WBL hub offer­ing nutri­tion edu­ca­tion, cloth­ing, men­tal health pro­gram­ming and oth­er ser­vices. The County’s ABC Com­mu­ni­ty Schools Part­ner­ship sup­ports the hub’s development.

A Promis­ing Mod­el for the Future

The WBL Ecosys­tem is show­ing promis­ing results. All 115 par­tic­i­pants have either grad­u­at­ed or remain in school. Every 12^th grade par­tic­i­pant has grad­u­at­ed and enrolled in post­sec­ondary edu­ca­tion. FFE plans to expand the WBL Ecosys­tem through­out Del Norte High School, inte­grat­ing it into more exist­ing cours­es and pro­grams. This will ensure that more stu­dents ben­e­fit and that work-based learn­ing becomes a stan­dard part of the school’s edu­ca­tion strategy.

“This approach cre­ates a rel­e­vant and mean­ing­ful aca­d­e­m­ic expe­ri­ence where young peo­ple not only mas­ter rig­or­ous con­tent but also step into lead­er­ship roles that strength­en their com­mu­ni­ties,” Lanoy-San­doval said. ​“Del Norte’s WBL Ecosys­tem has the poten­tial to serve as a mod­el and proof of con­cept for schools across the dis­trict and the state.”

This four-minute video fol­lows one stu­den­t’s Cap­stone project and its con­tri­bu­tions to the community