In March, Snohomish STEM partnered with Everett Community College to host a two-day ECHO Tour℠ (Exploring Careers & Healthcare Opportunities), bringing 226 high school students from 16 high schools to the EvCC campus for interactive healthcare career exploration. Through small-group rotations, hands-on activities, and conversations with healthcare professionals and educators, students explored career pathways, training options, and future opportunities in Snohomish County.
Participants included 54% juniors and seniors, 58% students identifying as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), and a gender breakdown of 76% female, 21% male, and 3% nonbinary or another gender. These data points reflect ECHO Tour’s reach across a broad student audience and reinforce the value of expanding access to career-connected learning across Snohomish County.
This ECHO Tour was supported by The Boeing Company, whose investment in career-connected learning helps students connect classroom learning to real career possibilities while strengthening Snohomish County’s future workforce pipeline. Healthcare careers are essential to community well-being, local economic resilience, and regional competitiveness. Programs like ECHO Tour help students explore pathways they may not have otherwise considered.
Student Impact: Knowledge, Interest, and Career Identity
Post-event survey results show strong gains in healthcare career knowledge, increased interest, and sustained career self-identification among participating students.
Students reported strong growth in their understanding of healthcare careers after participating in the March ECHO Tour. Average healthcare job knowledge increased from 4.15 to 5.94 on a 7-point scale, a 43% increase, moving students from approximately 59% to 85% of maximum possible knowledge. The percentage of students reporting high healthcare job knowledge — ratings of 5 or above — increased from 43% pre-event to 93% post-event, a 50 percentage-point gain.
Student interest in healthcare careers also increased from an already strong baseline. Average healthcare job interest rose from 5.41 to 6.26, and the share of students reporting high interest increased from 69% before the event to 90% afterward. Following the program, 85% of students said they could imagine themselves in a healthcare career one day.
Together, these results demonstrate that ECHO Tour continues to increase students’ awareness of healthcare careers and available pathways while helping them see themselves as part of the future workforce.
Across the 2025-26 school year, ECHO Tour engaged 335 high school students over two events, a 23% increase in the number of students from last year. With support from partners, students collectively increased their healthcare job knowledge by a remarkable 53%, and 89% of students rated their interest in pursuing a healthcare career as high after participating. Cumulative to date (2024-2026): 1,155 students.
What Students Experienced: Interactive Engagement & Career Awareness
Students described ECHO Tour as an engaging, interactive experience that expanded their understanding of healthcare pathways through hands-on activities and direct connection with professionals.
Qualitative feedback showed that students valued both hands-on learning and direct interaction with healthcare professionals. Students referenced the EvCC simulation lab, CPR, nursing equipment, ankle taping, dental and handwashing activities, sports psychology, pharmacy, and conversations that helped them understand what different healthcare careers look like in practice.
Students shared:
- “Getting to experience different perspectives of healthcare from people who actually know about it.”
- “I enjoyed the hands on experience like dressing up in PPE and CPR and more.”
- “I really liked the Everett College nursing lab and dental and germ stations!”
- “I enjoyed learning about being a pharmacist. Also, seeing the SIM mannikins was cool.”
- “I liked learning about the athletic trainers and sports psychology. I learned a new way to wrap an ankle.”
- “I enjoyed the Optum handwashing station and info about EMT-Paramedics etc. 10/10 Must try again.”
- “The certificate for Nursing assistance is offered at Edmonds College through running start.”
- “I thought this gave good insight into the careers and gave me a better idea of what I want to go into.”
- “Getting to know more about the jobs I am interested in, and ones I didn’t know about.”
- “I enjoyed the variety of nursing stations a lot. I learned that there are lots of paths to becoming something in nursing.”
- “I enjoy exploring all healthcare opportunities and I can’t wait to see what matches me later in the future!”
Across responses, students emphasized how much they appreciated learning about the variety of healthcare careers available, including roles and pathways they had not previously known existed. This type of early exploration is central to career-connected learning and helps students begin connecting their interests to real education and workforce opportunities.
Healthcare Partners & Community Collaboration
ECHO Tour was made possible by healthcare professionals, educators, and partner organizations who facilitated interactive stations, shared their career pathways, and helped students understand the breadth of healthcare opportunities. Special thanks to the participating healthcare career stations and professionals:
- Everett Community College Nursing
- Edmonds College Nursing
- Edmonds College Pharmacy
- Dental Hygienist professional, Cyndi Christofferson
- IRG Physical & Hand Therapy
- Optum
- School Nurse Corp professional, Sarah Barquero
- Sports Psychology professional, Xeindria Chandran
Their willingness to create engaging, student-centered experiences helped bring healthcare careers to life and demonstrated the value of employer and professional involvement in building a stronger future workforce.
Additional thanks to Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) for sharing financial aid and postsecondary pathway information with students, helping connect career inspiration with practical next steps toward education and training.
This program also reflects the continued collaboration between Everett Community College and Snohomish STEM, bringing ECHO Tour back to EvCC for a third year and expanding access to healthcare career exploration for students across Snohomish County.
Community Leadership, Visibility, and Workforce Alignment
In addition to the student program, Snohomish STEM hosted a special VIP Tour, giving community, workforce, and government partners a behind-the-scenes look at career-connected learning in action for a high-demand industry. Guests included representatives from The Office of the Governor, Washington Student Achievement Council, and Economic Alliance Snohomish County, and other community leaders.
During the tour, guests visited healthcare career stations, observed student engagement firsthand, and had the opportunity to participate in several hands-on activities. The VIP Tour elevated awareness of the healthcare workforce pipeline challenge while showcasing ECHO Tour as one practical, partnership-driven strategy to help address it.
Investing in a Future-Ready Workforce
ECHO Tour demonstrates how career-connected learning can serve as a meaningful investment in regional workforce development. By connecting students with healthcare professionals, hands-on experiences, and postsecondary pathway information, the program helps students better understand what is possible — and what steps they can take next.
Healthcare careers support community well-being, economic resilience, and regional competitiveness. Programs like ECHO Tour help ensure that students are not only aware of these opportunities, but can begin to imagine themselves contributing to the future healthcare workforce.
Special thanks to The Boeing Company for supporting ECHO Tour and investing in career-connected learning as a strategy to strengthen Snohomish County’s future workforce pipeline. Special thanks also to Economic Alliance Snohomish County, Snohomish STEM’s host organization, for championing career-connected learning as a long-term investment in regional talent development and economic growth.
Together with educators, employers, investors, and community partners, Snohomish STEM remains committed to expanding access to meaningful career exploration that supports student success, workforce readiness, and a resilient local economy.
ECHO Tour℠ is one of Snohomish STEM’s signature career-connected learning programs, alongside STEM Like Me!®, Explore I.T. Careers℠, and Spring into STEM℠. We also collaborate with partners on programs such as Girls Explore STEM (with WSU Everett), AMTEC Manufacturing Day Tour (with Everett Community College), and Expanding Your Horizons (with Edmonds College).
