Next academic year, Evanston Township High School students will be able to take a Certified Nursing Assistant course, allowing the high schoolers to graduate with their credentials and start working when they pass their CNA exam.
On Tuesday, the ETHS Foundation, which raises private dollars for the school, hosted the official opening of the Health Science Center. The new classroom features a simulated hospital setup, including five patient beds and industry standard medical equipment.
“We are creating students to be college and career ready, and not as a binary but as one and the same,” ETHS Superintendent Marcus Campbell said. “We’re creating a new opportunity and a new office of early college and career experiences. We are committed to making sure that when kids graduate from ETHS, it doesn’t matter if they go straight to a career or if they go to college, that they’re well prepared.”
The facility provides students with a hands-on learning experience. In addition to the hospital beds, the room is also equipped with five mannequins, allowing students to practice patient care.
“We are so proud of the opportunities that we are creating for our students and our new arts and innovation division, where we are creating new courses and trying to innovate and be responsible for an interdisciplinary approach to education, having a hands-on experience to learning,” Campbell said. “These days, that’s what it takes. The old days of ‘sit and get’ with lectures – kids aren’t paying attention to that.”
Hands-on approach
Jen Cless Zehr, representing the Cless Family Foundation that helped fund the initiative, has kids attending ETHS and appreciates this hands-on approach to learning.
“Our family is grateful to support a project that connects our education and workforce to expand and create new opportunities for all students to engage in innovative and equitable pathways that propel them to rewarding careers and financially stable futures,” said Cless Zehr. “I can’t think of any greater way to honor our father’s legacy and to make sure that ETHS is able to deliver upon its promise [and] its strategic goals of ensuring that students are career and college ready.”
The CNA training course will not be offered until next year, but students currently can take Health Sciences, a year-long course, or Medical Terminology, a semester-long course.
Health Sciences exposes students to 14 different medical careers, including dentistry, ophthalmology and veterinary medicine.
Helping students get a ‘clearer picture’ of their future
For Joyce Sia, a registered nurse who teaches the three classes, these courses allow students to better understand what they want to do in the future.
“I think they come in with this idea that they want to either pursue a career in health care or learn more about what it’s like to work in health care. Even if they walk away from these classes saying, ‘That’s not for me,’ it’s still a win,” Sia said. “I just want them to have a clearer picture of what they want to do with their futures.”
Izzah Shah, a junior at ETHS, is taking Health Sciences and has registered for the CNA course next year. Shah wants to be an obstetrician and said Health Sciences has given her the opportunity to learn more about the field.
Shah said Sia introduced her to a doula program that allowed her to learn more about childbirth and what obstetricians do. “It really made me find my passion,” said Shah, adding that even though she had some idea of what she wanted to do, this opportunity solidified her interest.
For students who are less sure, school board President Pat Savage-Williams said the new facilities will let students explore the health care industry.
“Many students don’t know what the options are in the medical field. They think, ‘Doctor, nurse?’ There’s a lot more. What I’m hoping is that they’ll be exposed to more,” she said. “And so they may not want to be a doctor or a nurse, but there are other options, and they can pursue them.”
Superintendent Campbell, who was previously ETHS principal, said he hopes this initiative will show students that the school and the community wants to invest in their education.
“We’re looking for more creative, innovative, related ways to be able to get them engaged and to think about their lives,” he said.
Such good news!!!