HUNTLEY – Huntley High School is taking a leap into mostly uncharted territory with its planned medical academy, a school-within-the-a-school that will prepare students for careers in various medical fields.
Project Lead the Way, a national curriculum program, sets the infrastructure for several of the academy’s courses. Though many Illinois schools use PLTW’s engineering curriculum, Huntley will become just the third high school in the state to use its biomedical sciences program, according to a presentation held for medical academy volunteers on Oct. 16 at the high school.
Huntley High School math teacher and athletic trainer Renae St. Clair speaks before medical academy volunteers at the school library on Oct. 16. The medical academy was built from St. Clair’s original idea of an athletic training course. (Photo by Mason Souza/Sun Day)
In order for the academy to be a success, it needs volunteers. Such was the message given by Renae St. Clair, a math teacher and athletic trainer at HHS who came up with the idea for an athletic training course years ago. Following talks with Principal Dave Johnson and District 158 Superintendant John Burke, that class grew into the planned four-year academy.
The program is looking for those with experience in the medical field at all levels who can do everything from assisting students on how to take blood pressure to speaking on health insurance or advances in surgery.
Those without medical experience are also valuable in sharing their experiences in hospitals and giving their thoughts on healthcare issues or what makes a doctor or nurse effective. St. Clair said she sees a “great resource” in Sun City.
“I think we have healthcare professionals out there. I think we also have people that have just had experiences with healthcare, and I think those experiences can really benefit our students,” St. Clair said.
Volunteers are able to assist students, speak to a class at their convenience, or serve on the academy’s advisory committee.
St. Clair said the academy is being planned in the most cost-effective way possible for both the district and taxpayers.
This includes using current faculty to teach courses for the academy. She gave the examples of having physical education teachers also teach health courses, and of herself, a math teacher, also teaching athletic training.
This philosophy would apply to how the school evaluates new teacher applicants at large.
“We know we’re probably going to need to hire new staff anyway due to growth, so we’re hoping that it’s not necessarily we’re adding new staff just for the medical academy, but if we need new staff anyway, maybe we can try to look for people that would fit in to the medical academy,” she said.
The school is also taking a conservative approach to learning materials.
“As far as the classes go, we’ve really tried to work hard with what we have. The medical skills and services class, we didn’t have to buy a whole lot of materials for that,” St. Clair said. “The materials that we did buy were things like stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs that will last, and it’s a one-time purchase, and we’re done.”
In an effort to avoid raising taxes, St. Clair said that HHS will aggressively seek alternative funding such as grants and contributions from local hospitals.
Though St. Clair considers this to be the academy’s first year, the academy’s introductory course, medical skills and services, was offered last year with 32 students signing up for each semester. After that positive response, HHS moved forward, adding more classes. Today, there are 388 students enrolled in medical courses.
St. Clair envisions an academy in which about one-fourth of the HHS student body is enrolled. Once fully-operational, students will need to apply and interview to get into the academy.
Not all graduates will go on to be doctors, nurses, or assistants. The academy will be designed to prepare students for careers in medical business, law, and other medical-specialized fields.
According to St. Clair, some classes will be available for all students to take, as they teach lessons applicable to anyone.
“I tell my students now with the first responder class, ‘I don’t care if you want to go into healthcare or not, somebody in your family, at some time in your life, is going to have a medical emergency,’” she said. “‘And wouldn’t it be cool if you were the one that knew what to do before the ambulance gets there?’”
Updates and information on the medical academy are available at d158.k12.il.us.
