Washougal High students take ‘Brightpath’

Technology helps match teens with possible career paths; WHS teacher earns ‘innovative educator’ award

Washougal High School senior Gabby McCormick accesses the YouScience online program on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. McCormick has used the program to confirm her choice of career path and find out more information about what she needs to do in order to become an interior designer. (Contributed photos courtesy of the Washougal School District)

Margaret Rice, the Washougal School District's director of career and technical education, holds a plaque naming her the YouScience Innovative Educator for 2023.

Screenshot by Doug Flanagan/Post-Record YouScience's Brightpath platform determines students' aptitudes and ranks their potential fit for hundreds of different careers.

Gabby McCormick said she knew she was interested in interior design when she first used the YouScience program known as “Brightpath” during the 2021-22 school year at Washougal High School, but she didn’t realize how much the program would help her gain the practical information she needed to help plan her future career goals.

“I was kind of skeptical because it was something new, and I had never heard of it. We didn’t do it in middle school, and I don’t think we did it freshman year,” McCormick, a senior at Washougal High, said of the YouScience program. “I actually liked it because it taught me a lot about myself and what I can do with my future. I really like knowing what my future could look like. I’ve always known what I want to do, but I think it helped me realize what things I need to work on to be on that path, what things I need to get better at and what steps I need to take.”

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