Pyle Paves The Way
by Billie Jean Peterson
During their time at Eudora High, students are offered Eudora-DeSoto Technical classes that provide a helpful head-start into figuring out their future. One of these classes, Health Careers, helps guide students who believe they want to go into the medical field after high school. Health Careers exposes future medical professionals to different occupations and routes available to get them started. With the help of the instructor, Andrea Pyle, these series of courses have progressed into some of the top programs in the state.
The Health Careers program is broken up into three years. Health Careers I acts as an introductory course and is ideally taken during a student’s freshman or sophomore year. The second year, which is available to juniors and seniors, is Health Careers. Health Careers is interlocked with Medical Terminology and allows students to earn their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification. Health Careers II is a blocked class, therefore students need to be prepared to commit two hours of their day to this class. The third and final class is Health Careers III, which gives seniors the opportunity to earn their Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) and Home Health Care (HHA) certification, and participate in on-the-job training.
Pyle has been teaching these courses for five years and has enjoyed watching students advance through the three years of Health Career classes available to them.
“There are so many rewards in teaching students who are enrolled in the Health Careers program,” says Pyle. “Another equally great reward is building relationships with students and helping them facilitate a path for their possible future career.”
Health Careers provides students with exceptional opportunities to help determine if it is the route they want to take and gives them a headstart into their future as a healthcare worker.
“Our program offers certifications that can lead to direct employment as a CNA, CMA, or HHA. We also provide adult and pediatric CPR, AED, and first aid certification,” states Pyle. “In Health Careers III, students have the opportunity to volunteer, shadow, or work in a health career setting, which can help take a little stress off their school week while also furthering their work experience or knowledge in the healthcare field.”
Teaching the course is easy for Pyle because she has always been engaged in the world of medicine.
“I have been fascinated with anything medical since as long as I can remember. During my high school years, I would watch every medically related show on TV, any medical movies, and read as many books involving medicine that I could get my hands on,” says Pyle.
As for what the future holds, Pyle hopes to see the program continue to flourish, expand, and attract students who hope to see a future career in the medical field.
“I would love to see expansion of our pathway courses- perhaps a First Responder Course, pathophysiology, pharmacy technician, and forensic medicine,” says Pyle.
While the success of the Health Careers program so far is enough to satisfy any teacher, students at Eudora High School have only seen the beginning of what is to come from the Health Careers course.
