Health Education Learning Pathways (HELP) Academy
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Goals/Objectives
- To promote career awareness through a sequence of courses middle school through high school, interdisciplinary projects, academic clubs, and field experience with community partners
- To form a collaborative team for development and expansion of the Academy, recruitment of students and community partners, development of curriculum and common projects, and support linkages among schools, community partners and community colleges
- To work with Bakersfield Community College to have all ROP Health Sciences articulated
- To promote the H.E.L.P. Academy to community members, students and parents
Brief Description of Pathway
Career Exploration at Jacobson Middle School
- Health Careers Unit in Skills of Success (required 8th grade class)
- Health Careers (2 semester class)
- Medical Terminology (2 semester class) Prerequisite for advanced classes
- Medical Front Office (2 hour one semester class) with required fieldwork
- Medical Back Office (2 hour one semester class) with required fieldwork
Results of Activities
- Expanded Academy courses to all grade levels at THS
- Health Careers course was articulated with Bakersfield Community College April 2010
- Health careers unit for Skills of Success 8th grade course at JMS are provided textbooks on health careers
- ROP instructor attended conference put on by Palmdale High School Health Careers Academy
- ROP instructor, administrator, high school and middle school counselors attended several health careers workshops at Educating for Careers Conference
- Medical Back Office students provided peer training for THS students enrolled in Medical Terminology, Health Careers, and Criminal Justice courses Spring 2010
- Strong collaborative team has formed that is from middle school through community college and interdisciplinary in scope
- Press release to the local newspaper to publicize H.E.L.P. Academy
- THS counselors highlighted for 9th and 10th grade students the beginning health science related courses offered for 2010-2011
- Active Health Explorer group at THS/Tehachapi Valley Health Care District supported the community classroom component of Medical Front and Back Office courses
- Each student in Medical Back Office worked over 100 hours at Tehachapi Hospital
Evaluation Tools & Procedures
- End of course evaluations
- Track students in the pathway
- Log community classroom hours (field work)
- Track graduates from the program
- Enrollment data (year to year)
- Log interdisciplinary lessons and projects
Strongest Pathway Attribute
One of the strongest attributes of our Health Science Pathway is the excellent instructional collaborative/support that is in place. In the beginning stages of our Academy, the medical community approached THS with the need for educating students early for the medical professions. Over several years as our course offerings expanded, our ROP teacher developed strong linkages with the medical community, specifically Tehachapi Valley Health Care District (TVHD), who has provided field experience for our advanced students. TVHD also provided(s) free CPR training and TB testing for our students. District transportation is provided free for the students to travel to and from the work sites. At the high school our counselors recruit students for our program and build the master schedule to accommodate the needs of our program.
Resources and Other Related Information
www.teh.k12.ca.us/ths
Video journal at KCSOS
Contact Information
Bev Thompson
bthompson@teh.k12.ca.us
(661) 822-2130