With many people knowing what they want to be from a young age, some electives give students the opportunity to start building their careers early on. From cosmetology to teaching, and even to healthcare, the school allows students to go off-campus to gain experience in their field of study. Interactive labs, off-campus shadowing, and in-class presentations are just a few of the ways that students in Health Practicum Theory prepare for their futures in healthcare.
Each one of the 19 students taking Health Practicum Theory go to their off-campus job sites every Wednesday and Thursday for approximately an hour and a half where they shadow and assist nurses to gain experience. At the beginning of the school year, students had to research nurses that they could shadow. All their sites needed to be different, and they needed reliable transportation to get to them.
Senior Anoush Clayton shadows the school nurse at Creekwood Middle School, helping with various tasks.
“It’s mostly just vital signs. So, I take their blood pressure, I take their temperature, I take their pulse oximetry,” Clayton said. “I also just help them with whatever they need.”
Clayton says she wants to be an anesthetic nurse. She says she’s going to work in a hospital as a CMA while she pays for Lone Star so she can get her prerequisites. She then plans to transfer to a university. She’s been preparing for her medical career throughout all of high school, and Health Practicum has helped get her one step closer to her goals.
Senior Andres Campos is in Health Practicum Theory to help prepare for his career. He shadows at Kingwood Occupational and Physical Therapy and plans to go to college and get his undergraduate in exercise science and go to school for physical therapy.
“I observe the physical therapist and I ask questions, and sometimes I help them translate,” Campos says. “[I enjoy] getting some new patients and observing their recovery process from injuries.”
All of the students’ work at their job sites helps them as they work toward their Medical Assistant Certification. Later in the year, they’ll take a written test that will encompass all they have learned this year.
Earlier this year, Health Practicum students participated in a lab to practice their injecting skills. It consisted of students injecting water from a syringe into various fruits and silicone injection pads. The in-class labs help prepare students for jobs in nursing
“It was really good learning different types of vaccines and where you do them,” senior Tia Thompson says.
Health Practicum Theory doesn’t only help with gaining experience, it also gives students a boost when it comes to college. Students who are interested in nursing can add their certifications to their resume once they have the prerequisites to apply to nursing school. Students get extra points for having these certifications in their resumes, which can increase their chances of getting in.
“I just had a student that graduated in 2024 call and say that she got into the Texas A&M nursing program.” Health Practicum teacher Leanna Rockwell said. “And I had a student that graduated in 2023 that last year, she called me, and told me that she got into the ultrasound program at Angelina College,”
Even if a student isn’t able to attend college, they can still be successful with the certifications gained in Kingwood Park’s CTE Health Science classes. Hospitals regularly hire patient care technicians, a job that requires certifications (Patient Care Technician and CPR) earned in class.
“So with those two certifications that they have, they can get a job at a hospital,” Rockwell said.
With all of the health classes Kingwood Park has to offer, students are getting hands-on experience, further preparing them for their futures in the medical field.
“It’s really fun seeing what you’re learning in class in person, in action,” said Thompson.
