Photo courtesy of BELLEVILLE MENNONITE SCHOOL
A new cooperative venture between Geisinger and BMS is providing students Gracie Civitts (left) and Julia Baker with real-world experience in the nursing field.
BELLEVILLE — Imagine this: it’s 9 a.m. on a Monday, you’re sitting in class, probably struggling to stay awake. The teacher’s voice starts to sound like the famous words of the instructor on Peanuts, “Wah Wa Wa Wah Wa Wa.”
There’s a bit of rustling of pages in a textbook. There are also aimless blank stares at the desktop or whiteboard, seriously wondering when you’ll ever use a quadratic equation in real life, or why on Earth the mitochondria being the powerhouse of a cell matters.
At Belleville Mennonite School, a new cooperative program is providing students to learn in a real-world environment and helping them solidify their career choices.
BMS is offering individualized educational paths to high school students, like Julia Baker and Gracie Civitts. This year, the two seniors have embraced a new opportunity to explore their interest in the healthcare profession through a cooperative arrangement at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital.
Geisinger Network offers a unique clinical partnership for high school students who are considering a career in healthcare. Each morning, Baker and Civitts’ school day begins with several hours of providing patient care at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, prior to arriving to BMS for classes.
The subjects that some students zone out on have become the building blocks for real-life lessons.
For Baker, who plans to attend The Geisinger School of Nursing in downtown Lewistown after graduation, the experience has affirmed her career decision.
“It’s a great opportunity for someone my age to learn the profession and see direct change instead of just having a conceptual experience from classroom instruction,” Baker explained.
Checking vitals, assisting with breakfast, changing sheets and bathing patients has proven to be an incredibly meaningful experience for both students. They got a taste of what life would be like working in the healthcare field.
Certainly, the opportunity to work in a real hospital environment provides a more valuable experience than any textbook or classroom teaching tool.
Civitts, who also intends to pursue a career in nursing, said, “It is so exciting to learn hands-on at this point in our education.”
There are also benefits for Geisinger, which is experiencing a shortage of healthcare professionals. The lack of prospects in the pipeline have led administrators from the healthcare and education fields to become more resourceful and create opportunities like this one to try and strengthen the numbers.
“Gracie and Julie are essential members of our unit,” said Keith Peachey, RN, nursing operations manager at Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital. “Their proactive engagement with our teams and patients significantly enhances our mission of delivering high-quality care. This involvement ensures they gain invaluable experience.
“Additionally, their participation in our co-op program opens doors for a promising future career with Geisinger,” Peachey added. “We are grateful to have Gracie and Julie on our team. Their contributions are instrumental in ensuring our patients receive the best care and experience.”
BMS Development Director Gwen Renno said this marked the first year of the specific community cooperative venture experience between the school and Geisinger.
“Our focus continues to be on creating connections throughout the community for individualized workforce experiences that match our students’ interests,” Renno explained.
“So in this case, since Geisinger has a program that Gracie and Julia were interested in exploring, we were able to adjust their academic courses to accommodate the opportunity,” Renno added.
With the success of this co-op, Renno said there could be additional opportunities in the future in other professions.
