Area 1: Goals:

The Health Occupations Program supports student achievement through its alignment with the NJCCCS 9.1 Career & Technical Education standard & 9.2 Consumer, Family, & Life Skills standards and 8.1 Computer & Information Literacy.

The students involved in this program not only learn career awareness and employability skills, but also learn character skills and ethics by their involvement with the local nursing home residents and staff. The students also observe the many uses of technology in a health care setting and practice using these skills in their classes in the high school.

The program goals include the following:

1. Students will be able to participate in planned job training and learning experiences that will include skills that are needed for specific health careers.
2. Students will be able to learn how to relate occupational learning to their own lives and possible careers.
3. Students will be able to develop interpersonal communication skills and develop citizenship and work ethics through both occupational job shadowing and volunteer work.
4. Students will be able to learn the various types of technology used in the world of work and better develop these skills in their courses in high school.

It is easy to correlate the NJCCCS with the goals and objectives of this program. This is a program that not only allows for job shadowing, but the development of personal career goals, employability skills, and work ethics, all while giving back to residents of a local nursing home. The goals of the program align not only with the Career & Technical Education standard, but also align with the Consumer, Family, and Life Skills and Computer & Information Literacy standards.

Area 2: Activities:

The Health Occupations program allows 10 junior and senior students (due to the extent of the shadowing, the number is required to be limited with the on site supervision of one Teacher/Coordinator who is a Registered Nurse from the school district) the ability to participate in unique job shadowing in a health care setting at a local nursing home. The students rotate into nine different areas to learn job skills, medical terminology, standard precautions, confidentiality, work ethics and how to adapt to the health care environment.

The students use handheld computers to record their experiences and write journal entries daily about their clinical experiences in the health care setting. These students and another 25 sophomore students also do volunteer work at this nursing home after school for 2 hours once a month in a special planned event with the residents. The students plan the activities with the help of the Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, and adopt residents to work with monthly.

Examples of activities that were planned in the past include: Assisting the residents to make crafts for their rooms, History Bingo, The Price is Right (to help the residents recall prices of items & learn the new prices of things); the final activity of the year involves the students bringing their Prom to the nursing home. The highlight of the year is when the residents receive an invitation to join the students for the day at the school for our Intergenerational Day celebration. Some of the residents have no visitors at all, and the students become their only link with the world outside of the nursing home.

The students learn not only citizenship, but also valuable lessons about the lives of the residents and a type of history lesson about the way life used to be over 80 or 90 years ago. The residents also benefit as the students tell them about their lives in high school and their use of technology. The residents are mesmerized by the student's use of their handheld computers and digital cameras. It is a wonderful sharing and blending of generations where a mutual unconditional respect is developed.

The students develop their communication skills, and respect for these sometimes-fragile members of our local community. This has also helped to change the way the local citizens look at the teenagers of Abraham Clark High School for their work done with the geriatric population. Last year the students were the recipients of an award from the Saint Barnabas Health Care System for their work done in the community with the residents of Cornell Hall Nursing Home through the Share Your Heart Program.

Area 3: Outside Resources:

The students provide their time volunteering two hours each month at the nursing home and this helps the limited recreation staff to be able to have a special activity where there are plenty of people to help. The other example of human resources used is when the nursing home staff serves as mentors to the students teaching them about their specific career duties related to the objectives of the program. The students provide TLC (tender loving care) to the residents in their volunteer hours and often times during their clinical shadowing, and the staff in turn provides their time to help share their expertise about the health field.

As you can see, it is a mutual sharing and it is beneficial for all involved. The school district provides the funding for the bus transportation with the help of vocational Carl Perkins funds. The students also purchase presents for the residents for special events & holidays with their own money. The local Roselle Chamber of Commerce also makes a donation to assist with the Intergenerational Day, as do local businesses by providing items to be raffled off to the residents and other senior citizens.

Area 4: Evaluation:

Every year the nursing home staff and administrators evaluate the performance of the students, coordinator & effectiveness of the entire program. The results during the past five years have been excellent. The program received a national award from the EMAF organization for its school to work and job training efforts and was recognized by the Department of Education by receiving the Best Practice for Job training.

The students also receive 3 college credits from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey if they successfully complete the course work in health occupations, participate in community service activities, and pass the necessary final examination. Over the past 3 years that the school has had an affiliation with UMDNJ, 80%-90% of the students received some type of tuition free college credits for meeting the requirements of the university.

During the scholarship awards at the end of the year, the health occupation students have consistently shown their academic success by receiving scholarships for their community service work. Last year one student even received the Bill Gates scholarship, which is a full tuition scholarship. Again community service played a big part in this scholarship, as did the fact that the student was prepared for her future in the health field while in high school through her clinical shadowing experiences and college credits attained while in school.

The students all take a pre test upon entering any of the three courses in the Health Occupations program and post -test which is a final exam. The success can be seen in these test assessments and in the number of students that get accepted into college to study the health career of their choice and the number of students that completed their studies in a health career in the past twenty-five years that the program has been in existence.

Area 5: Stability:

The Health Occupations program is a long- standing program that has a tremendous twenty-five year reputation for success, for both the students, and the school. It has been shown on two national television stations, and been highlighted in numerous educational, and health care magazines and in numerous newspapers including the New York Times. The program is two-fold, allowing for both educational benefits to the students and allowing them to serve the community where they live.

The Teacher/Coordinator has been with the program since its inception twenty-five years ago, and she has helped the program to receive grants to update the equipment and purchase technology to aid the students be prepared for the newest forms of technology in the health care workplace. One of the courses is actually taught via ITV (interactive television to 2 other school districts while it is being taught to the students in Roselle) since the other schools do not have a teacher certified in the area of Health Occupations.

At a time when there continues to be a need for health care workers, this program aims to show the students possible career opportunities in the numerous health careers and help them to attain their future goals in health care. The program has received grants for handheld computers, to update the classroom to convert it into an ITV studio, and received funding to help with the transportation needs to and from the health care facilities for both job shadowing and volunteer work.

Rutgers University Center for Science, Math and Technology helped the students receive their first handheld computers, Carl Perkins funding helped to start the program, and Verizon helped to purchase equipment for the ITV classroom. The local Chamber of Commerce helps to make small donations to aid with job shadowing and community service projects such as Intergenerational Day that benefit the local residents of the nursing home.

The Roselle Town and Council helped to purchase desks, & flooring for the new ITV classroom, and local funds have continued to support the needs of the Health Occupations program by providing the salary for the Teacher/Coordinator and for all of the needed texts and supplies. The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Health Sciences Careers program helps to provide the students with the tuition free college credits if they successfully meet all of the necessary requirements of the program. The health care setting Cornell Hall Nursing Home and Rehabilitation center helps to provide the orientation and job shadowing training for the students, and they also give the students certificates of participation for their volunteer work done in the community at the nursing home.

The students are recruited by the Teacher/Coordinator and must complete an application, receive two letters of reference, and show evidence of good attendance and citizenship. The program is well known in the community, and students that have participated in this program are often offered paying jobs in local health care facilities due to their experience in the health field. Three students are presently working at Cornell Hall Nursing Home through their dedication in volunteering and excellent work performance done while in their job shadowing.

Area 6: Endorsements:

Cornell Hall Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center has been the main stakeholder in this school-community partnership. They support the program by providing a clinical site where the students can be mentored in health careers and the students in turn volunteer their time after school to work with the residents in recreation activities that helps to increase the quality of life of the residents.

I believe the Health Occupations program benefits the residents, staff and students. This program enhances their character with kindness, patience and experience towards the senior population. This program allows the high school students to interact with the seniors in fun recreational programs which are very beneficial to the residents. Their relationships with the residents can best be described as adopted grandchild to grandparent. They give the residents of Cornell Hall their love and their time. This program is truly beneficial from my perspective as the Director of Therapeutic Recreation.

Susan Masterson, CTRS, Director of Therapeutic Recreation

The students help to increase the quality of life of our residents, and bring joy and laughter to us all. It is often hard to remember that they are only high school students since many of them are so mature and knowledgeable. It is great to see how these teenagers give up their time to bring love and caring to our residents. I don't know what we would do without them.

Rose Alcantara, DON, Director of Nursing at Cornell Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Ms. Lobozzo has involved students in numerous projects with our residents for many years .The Health Occupations program has received many accolades from the Saint Barnabas Health Care System for the consistent volunteer work that the students have done with our residents. This is a successful program for both the students and our residents.

Rev. James Roberts (who is employed by the Saint Barnabas Health Care System and is very familiar with the Health Occupations/Share Your Program for many years)