Teens have chance to work in vet clinics right after graduation

Pooja Lodhia Image
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Alief ISD high schoolers trained as vet assistants
ABC13's Pooja Lodhia checks out an Alief ISD program that gives high schoolers a chance to train for a veterinary assistant certificate.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Alief ISD Center for Advanced Careers is offering students the chance to earn a veterinary assistant certification so they'll be able to work at vet offices in Texas directly after graduating high school.



It also means the community gets affordable dog grooming services.



Students get the 200 hours of classroom instruction and 300 hours of clinical work they need while still in high school.



"They can then go to a job with that certification and say, 'Look, I'm more than just a high school graduate. I have this extra certification under my belt and I'm ready to work,'" explained Erica Santillan, the veterinary science instructor at Alief ISD.



"That's one of the biggest problems that teenagers have getting ready to get out of high school. They don't know what they want to be, where they want to go," said 16-year-old student Kilah Miller. "Coming here kind of, sort of gives you opportunities, gives you everything you kind of, sort of need."



Here's where you benefit. The school offers grooming services as low as $5.



You can book an appointment for a grooming session through the Alief Veterinary Science Program's website.



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