What do you consider to be a successful career path?
A prestigious job title, a high-paying salary, a corner office with a nice view? Not necessarily. Successful careers come in many shapes and sizes and ResponsiveEd schools use their Career and Technical Education (CTE) program to equip students with the valuable career skills needed to establish their own version of success.
Premier High School – El Paso (Eastpointe) teacher Brenda Alcantar decided to host the school’s first ‘Successful Friday’ video with retired educator and dance historian Rosa Guerrero. After the interview, students were able to provide feedback, many expressing their interest in learning about a vast array of career paths.
“Our original idea was to showcase popular people from the El Paso area,” said Alcantar. “We later found out that students wanted to learn more about careers that struck their curiosity.”
From Diesel mechanics to local newscasters and small business owners, students at Premier High School – El Paso (Eastpointe) have the opportunity to ask pertinent questions about their desired careers. Once COVID regulations relaxed enough to allow students back into the classroom, several students were able to take the school’s video editing course. The course instructs students in the planning, shooting, and editing of their monthly ‘Successful Friday’ videos.
“I enjoy learning how to make and edit videos,” says student Fernando Castillo. “ Allowing people to tell their story through film has helped me better understand others.”
The Premier High School model allows teachers to use creative means to meet the needs of students. While the initial goal was to find a special way to interact with students, Premier High School- El Paso (Eastpointe) teachers allowed this opportunity to evolve into something more.
“The ultimate goal for ‘Successful Friday’ videos is for students to run the entire production from hosting to video editing,” says Campus Director Osvaoldo Morales. “ Hopefully, in the next school year, we can expand their project to a complete school news production.” 
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, film and video editing is projected to be one of the fastest-growing occupations from now until 2029. This fact allows students to take their valuable CTE skills, like the ones being taught here, to empower students with the options needed to make their own career decisions.
“We named the video series ‘Successful Friday’ because this is how we show students different avenues to success,” says Alcantar. “We teach students that success is not about a job title. If you love what you do, you are successful.
Successful Friday Videos are uploaded to the Premier High School- El Paso (Eastpointe) YouTube channel and shared to the campus Facebook page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbp5PScJWxKGT9Yh-WzVSkQ/videos.
To learn more about Premier High School- El Paso (Eastpointe) or to enroll, visit us at https://premierhighschools.com/elpasoeast/.
