Spotlight on: Health Sciences
HOSA – Future Health Professionals is a Career and Technical Student Organization focused on service and health care. With help from its advisor Steph Steinke, Elkhorn Area High School’s chapter sent 24 students to the HOSA International Leadership Conference in Dallas in June. Elkhorn’s public health team of freshmen made it through both rounds of competition and placed eighth internationally.
HOSA member Yamila Hernandez said, “We sacrificed a lot of our free time in preparation for HOSA competition. I’m glad to say our hard work paid off. Dallas was such a fun experience. The breakout sessions were very versatile and interesting, the expo had so many educational stands, and my favorite part was meeting people from all over the States and trading pins with them!”
Teammate Annie Grochowski added, “My team had a great dynamic and through this experience, I developed lasting friendships with all of them.”
Also on the team was Lesly Rodriguez, who said, “I personally loved this experience and had a lot of fun just seeing the passion that everyone had towards the health professions. I will definitely compete next year in the same event.”
Dietary Aid
Abby Vinz is a Watertown High School student in a Health Sciences Youth Apprenticeship at North Shore Healthcare with mentor Lori Lutze.
Abby became interested in the health care field through her sister, a nurse practitioner who works in rehab at Lake Country Landing. Abby’s sister mentioned her employer was looking for new dietary aids. Abby applied and got the job.
A day in the life for Abby involves going to school and leaving at 2:30 p.m. to get ready for work. She arrives at work around 3 p.m.
On the job, she takes patients’ orders, delivers those orders, provides room service and assists with kitchen work. She gets home around 8:30 p.m.
Abby said if you are interested in this field, you need to learn how to have patience and how to work with different populations.
About the future, she said, “I want to be a nurse practitioner too—I will be switching over to CNA [certified nursing assistant] once I complete my exam.”
Medical Researcher
When Ava VanDommelen was just seven years old, the No. 1 item on her Christmas wish list was a microscope. This gift sparked her interest in science and research – a passion that hasn’t ceased since.
Ava graduated from a youth apprenticeship program through DeForest High School, working as a pre-collegiate researcher studying alongside cancer scientists at the Morgridge Institute for Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Ava traveled to San Francisco to present cancer research she conducted at Morgridge to world-class researchers and scientists at an international research conference for optics and photonics, called SPIE.
Ava still works in the lab and is pursuing a biology degree at UW-Madison. Eventually, she would like to become a physician or oncologist.
Nursing Assistant
Cora Hjelmberg began her health care career and earning potential early by taking college courses before she even graduated from high school.
The Elkhorn Area High School senior earned a Gateway Technical College nursing assistant technical diploma as a junior and parlayed that into a solid-paying job at an area hospital and a foundation for her future career. She was in the Nursing Assistant Youth Apprenticeship.
“I like my job,” Cora said. “I like that I’m able to help people. I like being that person that they can call and I can help them. If they want to talk, I am there to listen.”
Cora said she initially took the college coursework because she has a goal of entering the health care field as a neonatologist and thought the training and work would give her a great first hand look at health care. In a field short of certified workers, Cora found work soon after passing her tests.
She also thought it would be good to take this look while she’s in high school – rather than finding out in college or later in life she might not like the career field.
“I think it’s better to know now than to explore a career in college and then you don’t like it,” Cora said. “I know people who are in their 40s and still don’t know where they want to go.”
CNC machinist
You’re never too young to follow your dreams. For Zach Fahrenkrug, 19, of Campbellsport, he knew in high school that CNC/tool & die would be his career.
“I took many manufacturing classes in high school,” Zach said. “Occasionally, our classes would be at the Moraine Park West Bend campus.”
Zach graduated from Kewaskum High School in the spring of 2017 and enrolled in Moraine Park’s CNC/tool & die technical diploma program.
“I like how the program covers many different areas of the industry,” Zach said. “You can be grinding wire tabs off of a punch in the morning and then turning chess pieces on a lathe in the afternoon.”
Zach also works at Gruber Tool & Die in West Bend as a CNC machinist, giving him the advantage of taking his education from the classroom to his job.
“Moraine Park works with businesses in the trade to make sure that we are being taught relevant information,” Zach said. “My instructor, Jim Hokenson, worked in the trade for decades. He enjoys helping people progress and better themselves.”
Zach is scheduled to graduate in May. His goal is to become a designer or programmer for CNC mills.
Electrician
Nolan Day went right from high school into the building trades. He was a senior in high school when he started working in the control panel shop and is now working to complete a five-year electrician apprenticeship with The Morse Group in Beloit.
Nolan became interested in being an electrician once he realized how successful a person can become in this field and how comfortably he can live without going into debt from college.
Some of his job duties include bending pipe, pulling wires for lights and wiring up control panels for motors and other devices.
Nolan advised students interested in this field to “work hard, show up to work every day on time, and keep a good attitude throughout the process.”
Computer Science
Ryan Hogquist is a student at Watertown High School working to complete the Information Technology Youth Apprenticeship with Badgerland Computers and Networking. His mentor is Giles Isham.
To get started in this field, Ryan first took a bunch of computer classes during his freshman year. His school-to-career coordinator provided him with contact information at an area employer, and he was hired to work and learn computer science skills.
Every day, Ryan comes to school and then leaves at 1:30 p.m. Then he goes to work until 6 p.m. His tasks while at work are fixing computers, building computers and troubleshooting.
For students interested in the computer science youth apprenticeship, Ryan said, “If you get the opportunity, go for it – take advantage of it.”
Information Technology
Elliot Virtue is a Lake Mills High School student completing his IT Youth Apprenticeship at Chapter 2 Inc., a manufacturing facility in Lake Mills.
On getting into the program, he said, “Over the years I was always messing around with computers and had a lot of fun doing it. I was taking a few computer classes and my teacher, Mr. Keuhl, noticed my skills and interest. He recommended to Mrs. Iverson that I get involved in youth apprenticeship, and here I am.”
Depending on the day, Elliot either leaves school early and works at 2 p.m., or starts after school at 3:30 p.m. He usually works until 5 p.m. and then has homework to do after that.
His work tasks are to update out-of-date computer systems and also input data from paper into the computer. “It really is just a lot of system updates and maintenance,” Elliot said.
Jen Iverson, his supervising teacher, added, “(He) gathers information from other companies, creates charts, organizes databases, and commonly uses Microsoft Office products, particularly Excel.”
After graduation, Elliot plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison or UW-Eau Claire for computer science. He shared, “It’s good to think about the big picture when you’re figuring stuff out.”
Mechanical Engineering
Julia McNamar is a senior at Belleville High School, a small community located 20 miles southwest of Madison. She is in her second year of a STEM career pathway Youth Apprenticeship with a focus on mechanical engineering.
Julia had this to say about her chosen field: “I didn’t realize I wanted to be a mechanical engineer until I was a freshman, but I should’ve known by the age of eight, when I would tear apart anything that moved in our house. When I took Intro to Engineering Design, I knew I wanted to be an engineer.”
She got a job placement as a junior at Findorff & Son, then moved to North American Mechanical over the summer, working with CAD programming and going to job sites. This year as a senior, Julia is working with Federal Industries in Belleville as a lab assistant and soon to be CAD engineer.
Julia’s day includes waking up early to work out, attending school and then going to her YA job. At Federal Industries, she thermocouples various cases for testing in the lab and loads product into the cases to acquire accurate readings. There are also other tasks such as swamping fans on a case, helping with controls, or just watching and listening.
Julia is currently deciding between attending Milwaukee School of Engineering or the University of Wisconsin-Platteville next fall.
For other students searching to find their career niche, Julia said, “If you don’t know how to do something, just ask. Everything can be a learning opportunity for future reference.”
