Brikerria Hall, a 2024 Gentry High School graduate, is a shining example of what one can accomplish with the right tools.
She graduated from the pharmacy tech program at Mississippi Delta Community College and now, less than a year later, she is working in her chosen field, making $20 per hour as a work-from-home technician.
South Delta Planning & Development District, Sunflower-Humphreys Counties Progress, Incorporated and the Sunflower County Consolidated School District have been working in partnership to give local high school seniors an opportunity to graduate with more than just a diploma.
Janice Galloway, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act In-School Case Manager at SHCPI said of Hall, “She is a success story because she used what we gave her.“
In addition to her regular curriculum, Hall, a test-free senior, received more than four months of training at Indianola’s Capps Center to become a pharmacy technician. Hall said roughly two and a half weeks after graduation she received a call from Martin's Pharmacy to interview for a position.
Hall said that after the interview she was so confident that the position was hers, she quit her job.
“I quit my job working at Burger King the same day because I just knew I had the position,” she said.
That was June 5 of 2024. Her first day of work was June 11.
Without a license, she cited a starting pay of $13 per hour. Then she learned that in Mississippi a person could get a license without a test. So, she acquired her state license, which bumped her pay to $16 per hour.
“I got my first check and I called my mama like, ‘Mama I'm rich,’” Hall said.
She said that she learned a great deal while working at the pharmacy, and even after matriculating to Hinds Community College in the fall of 2024, she was able to continue her work at the pharmacy on holidays and breaks.
“I met genuine people and was able to help and serve a lot of familiar faces,” she said.
Fast forward to April of this year when Hall learned of an opportunity to work from home as a pharmacy technician. Her immediate reaction was questioning how that would work.
The declared remuneration led her to apply even though she was initially skeptical that it might be a scam. Nonetheless, her faith in God and the desire to earn big outweighed the fear of being preyed upon.
So she scheduled an interview with the New York-based firm and was selected.
“I trusted in God, so I accepted it,” she said.
It was a multi-step interview process that involved video recordings, patient-interaction scenarios and assessments.
The confirmation of her hiring reportedly came within 30 minutes of the completion. She was required to be licensed in Idaho and New York and was reimbursed for her expenses to become licensed. The company shipped her a computer and all of the necessary equipment. Hall said she is now earning $20 per hour and an additional $10 per hour for overtime assisting with prescription refills and getting medications mailed directly to the patients.
She added that she has to also speak with doctors and nurses on occasion. And the freedom to work from home is a definite plus.
Less than a year after high school graduation, Hall is a certified and licensed pharmacy technician in Mississippi, Idaho and New York, earning a lucrative salary, all while attending community college.
She is extremely excited about her future and grateful for the opportunity provided to her through the SHCPI- WIOA program and the educational system. She recently took advantage of an opportunity to share her story with this year’s class of pharmacy tech graduates.
WIOA director Leronda Sibley said that the group, who finished their classes on June 21, was touring the B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center on Tuesday June 23 and stopped for lunch at the historic Club Ebony where Hall was able to share her success story.
Sibley said now that they know the benefits of being registered with the state, they are making sure that all of their pharmacy tech students follow Hall’s example.
Sibley reiterated that the program is funded through SDPDD and that the collaboration is coordinated through Rosalind Johnson, director, Indianola Career & Tech Center. It currently has 14 pharmacy tech students and 13 welding & fabrication students.
Students who want to participate in the program have to obtain a satisfactory level on the ACT WorkKeys Skills Assessment and complete and submit an application to WIOA.
Galloway said that the program coordinators then make the selection and pass the list to Johnson at the career and tech center.
“We try to have all of that done before school starts so it can become a part of their school schedule,” she said.
