UNM batcave program helps at risks kids

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A program that takes place two floors beneath the main UNM Hospital is helping at risk kids in New Mexico graduate.

The program is called the Nursing Diversity Pipeline, and it was created by nurses and other professionals concerned about the low graduation rate in New Mexico.

Kids picked from different high schools each year take classes in what's called the "batcave" once a week, the classroom is located two floors beneath the main UNM Hospital.

Kids learn the basics of health care including CPR and first aid. They are also taught about all the different professions that help a hospital run.

The hope is that the kids will see a profession they like and move toward it, first by graduating from high school and then going on to college.

Program creators say it has been extremely successful with about 80 percent of the students completing the program and graduating from high school.  Many of those students have gone to college, too.

Also as part of the program nurses and other health professionals mentor the students, making sure they are doing well in their regular classes and taking the proper courses in order to graduate. These mentors also help the kids in their personal lives, help them with family issues and help them apply for college and get scholarships and financial aid.

Most of the kids in the program are the first in their family to go to college.

One student was recently accepted into Yale on a full scholarship.

The program targets different schools in the metro area each year most of them in low-income areas with low graduation rates.