“I love helping. That’s my thing.”
Priscilla Hernandez will soon be a senior at MacArthur High School, but she’s already secured her first job as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). She recently started working at The Forum at Lincoln Heights.
She spent much of the spring semester preparing to take her certification test. It’s a culmination of skills she has been refining under the watchful eye and expertise of Nurse Aide Instructor and Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) Julie Reynolds.
“I love Mrs. Reynolds. I’ve learned so much from her time and experience in the real world,” said Priscilla. “I think it’s a great opportunity from NEISD. Not a lot of schools offer something like this. I really appreciate that. It gave me a big start on my career.”
Priscilla plans to take the Medical Assisting course at North East ISD’s Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC) her senior year. CTEC is a part-time home to students from every high school. Students like Priscilla attend their class of choice in the Construction Technology, Medical Professions and Automotive Technology Academies before being transported back to their home campus.
Students at CTEC have the opportunity to earn industry level certifications that will catapult them directly into job opportunities. Priscilla is just one of the students striving to learn everything they need to know in class to become certified and start their dream job.
“We do a lot of skills exams so that covers everything from how to feed patients, how to turn them to their side, how to transfer them from the bed to the wheelchair and how to talk to them so they’re comfortable with you.”
Congratulations, Priscilla!
Click here to learn more about the opportunities available to NEISD students at CTEC.
