Melissa Bailey Photo
On top of their regular high school classes, Neidaly Gonzalez and Keylanie Flores spent 100 hours learning how to bathe, feed and comfort senior citizens. They ended up on the path to finish high school ready to land jobs.
Neidaly and Keylanie (pictured above) were two of seven seniors at Hill Regional Career High School who recently completed a course at the Adult Education Center for aspiring certified nursing assistants.
The course took place from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Thursday, for five weeks. Students took classes and also worked with patients at the Advanced Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of New Haven (formerly the Jewish Home for the Aged).
It required a lot of extra work, said Keylanie: “We sacrificed a lot.”
They learned how to fight the spread of infection, give seniors baths, and transfer them carefully from a bed to a chair.
Neidaly said she transferred from Riverside Academy to Career High for the sole purpose of training to become a CNA. It turned out Career stopped offering the class, so she and fellow students trekked to Ella Grasso Boulevard to take the class at the Adult Education Center.
The students had a celebratory breakfast with school nurse Wendy Cummings, Principal Madeline and Assistant Principal Michelle Bonora.Negron and
After completing the course, the students are now ready to work as home health aides. If they graduate from high school in May, and pass board certification exams this month, they will finish high school ready to join the workforce as CNAs.
The students who passed the course were: Neidaly, Keylanie, Sasha Martin, Gulay Catalbasoglu, Vanessa Galarza, Cadi Rine and Daja Rios.
These young women obviously have the commitment and tenacity needed for career and educational advancement. I hope that their career paths are further enhanced with continuing education and certifications and salaries that are commensurate with their skills. Allied health careers abound and opportunities exist at Gateway and SCSU.