VTHS accepted into health program

VERNON — Students donning white lab coats, with stethoscopes dangling from their necks, gathered around their science laboratory stations; examining not only the anatomical prototypes in sight, but also the prospective professional health careers that lie ahead.
This month, Vernon Township School District is proud to announce its official acceptance into Rutgers’ Health Science Careers Program through the university’s renowned School of Health Professions (SHP). A progressive and comprehensive academic program, the Health Science Careers Program provides New Jersey high school students with a fast-track route towards professional careers in state-of-the-art health and medical fields.
To fulfill the requirements necessitated by the Rutgers certificate-program, Vernon Township High School has implemented its own Allied Health Career Technical Education (CTE) Program that includes college-level science, anatomy and health coursework, as well as clinical training and job shadowing opportunities that will prime aspiring students to enter into the health career of their choice. With countless medical and health professions at their fingertips, students will have a wide-range of career opportunities available to them upon completion of the program.
An advantageous opportunity for any high school student, Vernon’s Allied Health Program will additionally proffer college credit through several concurrent classes approved by Rutgers University. This agreement will allow Vernon Township High School students to earn up to 13 college credits from Rutgers University, which are transferrable to any state university in the nation.
This Fall, Dynamics of Biomedical Health joins Vernon Township High School’s extensive list of science electives that are available to students in grades ten, eleven and twelve. This course, instructed by CTE-certified Science faculty member James Shenise, serves as the keystone to the high school’s Allied Health CTE Program, which simultaneously satisfies the initial requirement of the Rutgers Health Science Careers Program. Vernon students who choose to pursue the Certificate of Participation in the Rutgers’ program must take Dynamics of Biomedical Health along with Human Biology (dba Anatomy and Physiology) and/or Emergency and Clinical Care, to complete the requisite two-course succession of accredited high school classes.
In recent months, the four faculty members of Vernon’s Allied Health CTE Program similarly sought their own college-level training through Rutgers University. Science teachers Anna Kuplin and James Shenise, CTE-certified Athletic Trainer Matthew Bergh and Renate Gratzl, R.N. each attained Adjunct Professorship with Rutgers’ School of Health Professions (SHP), a condition stipulated by the Health Science Careers Program. Fully-certified, Kuplin and Bergh co-teach the Anatomy and Physiology coursework at Vernon Township High School, while Renate Gratzl, R.N. instructs Emergency and Clinical Care within the Advanced Physical Education curriculum.
This past March, Suzanne D’Anna, M.S., Health Science Careers Program Director introduced Vernon’s faculty members to the Rutgers program and addressed its possible implementation. Since then, Vernon Township High School and Rutgers University’s School of Health Professions have signed a Memorandum of Agreement to initiate the program. On the heels of this contract, Vernon’s Allied Health instructors attended Rutgers’ Health Science Careers Program Conference on October 13th, 2016. At this full-day training session, Vernon’s faculty members participated in educational workshops for the program, while representing Vernon Township High School amongst the other top high schools in the state of New Jersey.
Outside of classroom instruction, Vernon’s Allied Health CTE Program additionally gives students access to on-site training opportunities, in order to gain valuable field experience. According to Shenise, “Students are required to complete 10 hours of ‘job shadowing’ or volunteering in medical facilities, such as St. Claire’s Hospital in Sussex.” Real-life experiences will moreover occur within Vernon’s school environment, as students become privy to guest speaker presentations and Q&A sessions with medical and health professionals.
The Vernon Township High School Allied Health CTE Program will directly respond to the statewide need for more advanced skills, occupational training and field experience in the healthcare industry. Students who complete the program in its entirety will be career-ready, with the confidence and skills necessary to immediately advance into the field. As Vernon’s Science Supervisor Dan Osenni noted, “This program is helping our students become more competitive in the job market.”
Given the extensive scope of the Allied Health CTE Program and the innumerable health fields that it services, Osenni enthusiastically added, “It is an exceptional opportunity!”
With a total of 53 enrolled students in Vernon’s Allied Health CTE Program, this year, participation has already exceeded expectations. And as the Dynamics of Biomedical Health teacher observed his classroom, with students assembling microscopes and retrieving sample cell swatches for their upcoming lab session, he observed, “Our students are excited to take classes specific to their career interests. They’re jumping in full speed ahead.”