SANFORD, Fla. – Seminole County Public Schools is giving a major upgrade to a program that prepares students for careers in the healthcare industry.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, district leaders unveiled renovations to the Academy of Health Careers at Seminole High School.
“As we know, healthcare has evolved tremendously,” Assistant Superintendent of ePathways Dr. Shawn Gard-Harrold said. “So to modernize the Academy of Health Careers and make sure our students are working in an industry standard environment, industry standard equipment, it matters immensely.”
District leaders said the overhaul represents a vision to create opportunities for students to thrive.
Nearly $3 million was secured through public-private partnerships to bring in state-of-the-art training tools and equipment.
“We will simulate that experience for them as to how do you interact with a patient, determine levels of pain, determine levels of support that are needed,” Gard-Harrold said.
The new spaces were designed to give hands-on training to the next generation of healthcare workers.
“It’s invaluable,” senior Makenna Arnott said. “You can’t get (hands-on training) anywhere else at this age and so I’m just really grateful that I get to do that sort of thing because you just don’t know until you try it.”
The modernization of the health academy will also help address critical needs, like the nationwide nursing shortage.
“We get to come in here and really see what that’s going to look like for us in the future and narrow our paths a little bit so you get to learn about different careers and where you fit in that system,” Arnott said.
For more details about the Academy of Health Careers at Seminole High School, visit seminolehshealthacademy.com.