92 High School Students Get Hands-On Exposure to Explore Health and Wellness Field
Posted on Wednesday, June 1st, 2016
Academic Partnerships welcomed 92 students from four Ottawa-area school boards as part of the Health and Wellness Exploration Camp on May 17.
The camp provided Grade 9, 10 and 11 students with the opportunity to explore health and wellness careers and educational programs in Nursing, Allied Health, and other health areas.
Four groups of 24 students rotated through a series of activity blocks that included a visit to the dental lab, the fitness zone, the nursing lab and the respiratory therapy lab. Students were shown how to measure blood pressure and heart rates, mould a dental night guard, and took part in a ‘drumfit’ exercise in the fitness zone, among other hands-on activities.
“The group seem ‘wowed’ to be able to get some hands-on time with the intubated, tracheostomy and neonatal [manikin] patients,” said Karen Seal, a respiratory therapist teaching at the college.
Students also took in presentations about the veterinary technician, massage therapy, occupational therapy, recreation and leisure, developmental services worker, social service worker, child and youth care, and early childhood education programs. The presentations provided an introduction to each industry and shared information on the academic requirements needed to qualify for the various college programs.
“Taking part in the ‘drumfit’ exercise was a lot of fun because I’m thinking of getting into personal fitness training,” said Grade 11 North Dundas District High School student River Johnston. “Getting a feel for the concepts from the nurse, with the different parts of the manikin, was interesting as well.”
One of the participating schools from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Brookfield High School, has been awarded a Specialist High Skill Major program for the 2016-17 school year, which will include offering health and fitness classes to Grade 11 students. Students were selected for participation in the camp based on their curriculum for next year as well as their interest in the health and wellness sector.
“The experience been very valuable for them,” said Graydon Almstedt, physical education teacher at Brookfield. “Some of them don’t know what they want to do and are beginning to think about it, while some have an idea of what area they want to go into. Being here and learning about five or six different programs is very valuable for them all to see.”
“It was good to be here in Grade 10, because I need to start thinking now about what I’m going to do,” added Brookfield student Taha Chahrour, who is considering personal fitness training as a career. “This is starting to get me thinking about it.”
At the end of the camp, the students filled out a “reflective postcard” answering the question, “why I want to give back to my community.” Academic Partnerships will mail the postcard to each student in six month’s time.
About Academic Partnerships:
Pathway Building since 2006. Academic Partnerships works with a comprehensive network of Pathway Builders (community, educational and government stakeholders) to create and deliver on a variety of experiential opportunities to be a college student through hands-on, curriculum-driven experiences for Pathway Explorers (students in grade 7 – 12). With a commitment to the dream development and pathway finding for students prior to starting full-time studies the team has programming at Algonquin College’s three Ontario Campuses: Ottawa, Pembroke, and Perth. For more information visit: algonquincollege.com/ap
- Posted in