CREDENTIALS MEAN CONFIDENCE FOR NOCC SENIORS STARTING CAREERS AND COLLEGE
Pre-Nursing Instructor Jeraneta Davenport, Class of 2023 Sophie B. Wright graduates and NOCC certified Patient Care Technicians, Kelsie Tero, and Cynthia Tejeda with Dean of Students, Ashley Jones.
Record number of trainees earn professional certifications.
NEW ORLEANS, La. – More than 100 seniors from 18 of the city’s public high schools are graduating with more than a high school diploma because they spent half the day, every day at New Orleans Career Center (NOCC). This year 114 seniors earned professional-level, industry-based credentials at NOCC – more than in any prior year – in healthcare, engineering/manufacturing, and culinary arts and hospitality management. Many of them also earned college credits through UNO and Nunez Community College, placing them ahead of their peers toward degrees.
“My Autodesk® Inventor certification and the college engineering courses I took while I was at NOCC, plus our classes and projects, gave me the confidence to know I’ll succeed at LSU,” said Clarence Cotton III, a Warren Easton Charter High School Class of 2023 graduate. Cotton will start LSU in the fall majoring in Mechanical Engineering. “If I weren’t going to LSU, with my Inventor certification I could go out and get a job I could support myself with right now.”
He is one of 17 NOCC engineering/manufacturing trainees to graduate with this certification.
In NOCC’s healthcare pathways, 30 seniors earned the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant credential and 41 earned the Certified Patient Care Technician credential. Both certifications qualify them to enter high-demand healthcare career paths well-positioned to succeed.
Twenty-six culinary arts and hospitality management trainees earned credits from Nunez Community College. More than half of those (15) earned Nunez’s Culinary Arts Certificate of Technical Studies, for which 30 hours of coursework is required across core and major courses and a C or better grade.
“These credentials and industry-aligned training give our graduating seniors important advantages over their peers,” said Carlin Jacobs, NOCC Chief Programs Officer. “They’re immediately employable in well-paid, high-demand jobs with real, achievable career ladders. Those who want to go on to college have the skills to work in their desired fields while in school, start gaining work experience at an earlier starting point, and take advantage of tuition reimbursement opportunities to help pay their tuition.”