The Future of Public Health Starts Here: How Show Up! Builds Career Pathways 

What does community mean to you? 

That is one of the questions that high school students are first asked when they apply to Advance Community’s high school program, Show Up! 

Students often say something like, “the people around me. The people I can rely on when I need something. You know that they will be there for you and you’ll be there for them.” 

The question may seem irrelevant for a student applying to a program they know will give them skills, CPR certifications, and prepare them for a career in public health. But it is actually at the heart of what this program teaches.  

Students are also asked why they are interested in the program. The answers vary across the board. But there is always one common thread. Students want to help people. Without a doubt every time I interview a student for Show Up!, they share, “I love helping people.”  

Show Up! is a public health training program that aims to build up the next generation of public health professionals. We introduce high school students to career pathways that align with their passions and empower them to make a difference in their communities. 

Public health is not a common subject taught in schools, but it is a rapidly growing field that needs young professionals to be fierce advocates for their communities. Many students may not realize the plethora of roles within public health, but their lived experiences already reflect both its impact and the inequities that persist. They are, in many ways, natural advocates, raising awareness and calling out the barriers that prevent everyone from living healthy, thriving lives. 

You don’t have to know the definition of a food desert to know the realities of food insecurity. You don’t have to be a doctor to know that seeing a provider is oftentimes harder than it should be. You don’t have to be a transportation manager to know that not having a ride somewhere, sucks.  

And you don’t have to be an expert in public policy to believe that everyone has the right to live a healthy life. And our students believe that.  

Therefore, the Show Up! program teaches our youth about the field revolving around this very vision of a healthier community. We give our students tools to identify the things they already know and live. We apply the social determinants of health, the elements of a healthy community, cultural brokers, and more in class and in our daily lives. We get certified in CPR and First Aid. We build resumes and learn to identify the skills we already have. 

What does it mean to be a community health worker, public health nurse, or epidemiologist? To work in patient navigation, community nutrition, or to be a researcher? What is a prevention specialist? Or a case worker? What does it truly mean to advocate?  

Further, what does it look like to study these fields in higher education? How can you give back to your community within your line of work? And speaking of getting a job, how do you format a resume?  

These questions are what fuel the curriculum of Show Up! and when students graduate the program, they will have experienced community work in the form of building food boxes and making warm meals for their neighbors. They will be certified to act in the face of a cardiac arrest. They will know how social factors impact their own health and those around them. And what I think is most important, they will leave with their own ideas for how to work toward healthier communities, with the professional resources and connections to make it happen. And all they have to do is, Show Up!  

Our Monthly Staff Blog Series features stories and insights from our team at
Advance Community,inspired by the work they do every day.

This month’s blog was written by Simonne Campos, Health & Wellness Program Manager.
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