SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Leticia Bucio is the school principal at Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High in Sacramento. Each day, she works to ensure students reach their full potential. For Bucio, the decision is personal.
"When you're younger, you take away your own experiences and you try to work through those as an adult," said Bucio. "I recall a counselor of mine, when I was in high school, saying that I probably would not go to college. She was looking at it, statistically, with me being a Latina. I want my students to know that's absolutely not true and you have every option just like everyone else."
Health Professions High School mostly serves students of color, with 47% Hispanic and 19% Black. The school is intentional about providing students with an "anti-racist education."
"Our teachers are regularly engaging in those conversations with students around their cultural backgrounds," said Bucio. "They're making sure that their classroom libraries are full of books that have Black authors, Hispanic authors and Asian authors, too."
The school's main goal is to increase the diversity of leadership in health care. Outside of tradtional studies, students get hands-on training for jobs in the medical field, like doctors, EMTs, paramedics, fire fighters and more.
Leanna Blackman is a 12th grader at the school. She's studying to be a nurse to help save lives. As an African American, she says she values the inclusive environment in classrooms.
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"I feel hopeful," said Blackman. "I personally have not seen a lot of healthcare professionals who look like me or my friends. We are bridging that gap in healthcare and bringing more diversity to the table. That's very important. And, sometimes, we have discussions in class about what does it mean to be African American, Latino and Asian, too."
Health Professions High is in the Sacramento City Unified School District, with a little over 200 students. After attending the high school, 71% of students go off to college. The school is open to any student in the Sacramento region, in or out of the district.
"We want this school to be a pillar in the community," said Bucio. "The decisons the students make and education they receive on campus can possibly impact the face of healthcare, with their education moving forward. That is something that we strive to do through our anti-racist education on a daily basis."
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