Alliance students share how experience shapes career plans

Grenita Lathan: The students represent vision of founding partners.

On a tour to learn about the range of jobs available in a health setting, Springfield Public Schools student Na’Kyah Duke recalled ending up in a cadaver lab.

“I walked in that room and the second I saw the sheets, I thought ‘OK, this is going to make or break healthcare for me,’” she told Alliance for Healthcare Education board members during a May 6 meeting at Cox North Hospital.

The Hillcrest High School senior said how once the sheets were removed, she and classmates were able to see inside a human body.

“We got to check out the body parts and organs and learn more about how it worked,” she said. “I was like ‘This is really interesting, this is something that has so many layers to it.’ I knew that I could stick through anything, and that really mattered.”

Duke is among 14 students in the alliance’s inaugural medical field pathway cohort graduating this month with a high school diploma and certificates. Many of the students were able to complete enough dual credit courses to also earn an associate degree from Ozarks Technical Community College.

The alliance is a first-of-its-kind partnership between CoxHealth, Missouri State University, Ozarks Tech and SPS. In 2023, the entities agreed to work together to train healthcare workers – as early as high school – and address critical workforce shortages in southwest Missouri.

Shallina Goodnight, executive director of the alliance, introduced Duke and four other high school students during the meeting, which also included touring a $15 million project to renovate part of the building for the program. The classrooms and lab spaces are slated to be done this summer.

“You all helped us build this plane while we are flying it. And next year is the first year that all the students are going to be in this particular building,” Goodnight said. “But you really are the foundation that helped us get to this point, where we can build everything else around it.”

Five students reflected on their time in the program, explaining what they learned and how experiences helped determine their college and career plans. They spoke to board members, including the top leaders for CoxHealth, MSU, Ozarks Tech and SPS.

“I thought it was just going to be normal college classes. I didn’t expect to be job-shadowing at Cox South,” said Sean Solis, a senior at Hillcrest, who says he plans to become a traveling nurse. “It’s been really fun and it’s definitely a lot more than I expected.”

Duke, who is interested in veterinary medicine, said the program provides the exposure students need to know if they are up for the challenge of working in the healthcare field.

“You have to know if you can handle blood and urine, seeing sick people or dealing with someone in the worst day of their life,” she said. “Knowing whether you can or you can’t handle that is a really important experience.”

Audrey Hartfield, a senior at Glendale High, said her mother is in the medical field and that an internship in the pediatric intensive care unit helped her decide a career path.

There, she met a little boy who needed help. His cancer was advanced, and he was in the hospital for treatment without a support system.

“He was all alone in this hospital, but he was the sweetest and most happiest patient I’ve ever met,” she said. “That’s when I realized that I want to be a doctor of pediatric oncology because these are the people that I think deserve the most help.”

Hartfield said one of her favorite experiences was observing a birth while spending time in labor and delivery. She said the mother was having her third child.

“She was really comfortable with a student being in there, which I was really grateful for,” she said.

Mara Benedetti, a senior at Parkview High, said she entered the program with an interest in occupational or physical therapy but quickly pivoted.

“I love being down in the lab and doing things like pathology and virology,” she said.

Ian Breesawitz, a senior at Parkview High, had been interested in biomedical engineering, but it was seeing how a nurse in a neurology unit handled patients that nudged him toward a career in the medical field. Specifically, he wants to work on prosthetics and artificial limbs.

“She was extremely stressed and under a lot of pressure, but regardless of that, she put a lot of time and effort into taking care of her patients,” he said. “I really admired that passion and dedication.”

SPS Superintendent Grenita Lathan praised the students soon to graduate from the program. They have been sharing their experiences with different groups as a way to spread awareness about the option.

“We are thoroughly impressed with you all, and I mean you truly represent the vision of the founding partners when we came together,” she said.

Lathan encouraged the students to stay engaged after graduation and speak up, if needed, as districts and colleges face uncertain state funding levels.

“The monies we received allowed us to be able to pay your tuition and for those experiences,” she said. “So we need you to be engaged as citizens now in the next step of our life, to encourage our elected officials to make sure the doors stay open … for your friends and your family members that come behind you.”

The other nine graduating seniors included Sham Al Saleh, William Delong, Merritt Downing, Addyson Hill, Benjamin Killingsworth, Sophia Lemons, Natalia Muller, Cyle Prastaro and Jaselyn Steading.

Editor’s note: Shallina Goodnight is an owner of Springfield Business Journal. She is not involved in day-to-day company operations.