Real Interviews, Real Opportunity: CAST Lead Students Step Into the World of Work

When Brian Velazquez chose CAST Lead, he was thinking about the person he wanted to become.

“I cared about my future,” Velazquez said. He saw a school where smaller classes and real-world opportunities could help prepare him for whatever came after graduation.

“That inspired me to take control of my future,” he said, “and also work myself to be ready and harness all the opportunities I could.”

This week, one of those opportunities placed Velazquez across the table from professionals at some of the area’s premier hotels—not for a classroom exercise or mock interview, but as a candidate for a real practicum experience.

And the professionals on the other side of the table noticed.

“Man, these kids are talented,” said Alex Dorbecker, Director of Front Office at Hotel Contessa. Dorbecker was impressed to find that high school students arrived professionally dressed, carrying résumés and prepared to talk about themselves, their experiences, and what they could contribute.

“I could have taken it as an interview as someone who's applying for one of my positions right now,” Dorbecker said. “These students are phenomenal.”

For CAST Schools, moments like these are not an addition to students' education. They are part of how learning is designed.

CAST Schools was created around the idea that young people should have opportunities to connect what they learn in school with the world beyond it—to work alongside professionals, tackle authentic challenges, build relationships, and develop the skills and confidence to navigate college, careers, and life.

At CAST Lead, whose industry focus includes Retail Management, Hospitality and Tourism, and E-commerce, that philosophy was on display as students interviewed with professionals representing six San Antonio hotels: Marriott Rivercenter, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hotel Contessa, Hilton Palacio del Rio, and The Westin.

The interviews required students to do far more than answer questions correctly. They had to introduce themselves to unfamiliar professionals. They had to explain their interests and goals. They had to draw connections between experiences they have already had and the responsibilities they hope to take on. They had to listen, think on their feet, communicate clearly, and ask thoughtful questions of their own.

For Velazquez, the experience offered an opportunity to recognize how much he already had to bring to the table.

“I told them about my experience outside of school, my student leadership experience, and being able to communicate, being able to manage tasks and deadlines, and also being able to work with people,” he said. “Communication is key.”

Velazquez already works a part-time job on weekends, an experience he credits with helping him become more comfortable talking with people and navigating a workplace. Now, interviewing with larger employers is stretching that experience further.

“I think it'll help me because it will expose me to different connections, different people, different branches,” he said.

His long-term plans may ultimately take him somewhere else entirely. Velazquez hopes to attend UTSA, major in finance and accounting, participate in Army ROTC, and eventually commission into the Army. That's part of the point.

Work-based learning isn't simply about preparing a student for one particular job. It gives young people a place to practice becoming professionals—to communicate with confidence, collaborate with people they don't already know, respond to unfamiliar situations, solve problems, build relationships, and begin making informed decisions about the futures they want. Those capabilities don't develop through a single interview. Wednesday's experience was the culmination of deliberate preparation. Before the students walked into the room for practicum interviews, they had already identified the hotel properties that interested them, developed their résumés, practiced interviewing with teachers, received feedback, and participated in Senior Speed Interviews with community and industry professionals the previous week.

Then the rehearsal ended, and the stakes became real.

Dorbecker was particularly struck when students began asking their own questions—something he said even many adult job candidates fail to do.

“They're asking questions like what benefits are coming their way,” he said. “It shows that they care, and it shows that they want to grow, and that they want to experience that.”

The opportunity is equally real for the employers.

Hotel Contessa is now in its third year partnering with CAST Lead. April Morales, the hotel's Reservations Manager, said one student who entered through an earlier CAST Lead experience, Chuy, continues to work there today. This year, the hotel hopes to bring six more students into its program.

“We hope to have our new future candidates out of this program as well,” Morales said. “We hope to bring in our next few employees.”

That connection—from school, to authentic workplace experience, to a possible job—is difficult to create through classroom instruction alone. It requires educators and employers to build something together.

CAST Schools has increasingly been recognized for that approach. A recent Progressive Policy Institute study examining innovative work-based learning models across the country included CAST Schools among six programs helping demonstrate what it takes to make these experiences possible at scale: strong employer partnerships, dedicated coordination, intentional pathways, and systems designed to connect students with the world beyond school.

Wednesday offered a glimpse of what that infrastructure looks like when it reaches a student.

It looks like a young person walking into a professional interview with something meaningful to say about himself.

It looks like an employer realizing the student sitting across the table is capable of more than he expected.

It looks like practice becoming experience, experience becoming confidence, and a relationship becoming an opportunity.

And for Velazquez, it looks a lot like what brought him to CAST Lead in the first place: learning how to take control of his future.

You can help create more opportunities like this for CAST Schools students. Experiences that connect young people with mentors, employers, authentic learning, and the world of work are made possible through a community that invests in them. Support our Youth Leadership in Action campaign or explore ways to partner with CAST Schools and help more students build the skills, relationships, and experiences to shape their own futures.