In a few weeks, our high school seniors will graduate. Many will move away to pursue higher education, including Blake Peters. The high school student is turning in his football cleats for cheerleading at the University of Kentucky while attaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Health Science. Peters will say goodbye to his teammates, teachers, and the friends he made in a JCHS program, who helped shape his ambitions in healthcare.
“I feel like I have a connection with them. ” Peters says. “I can talk to them one-on-one and have a bond.”
The program supports students with disabilities. Mr. Marshall Mummert is the teacher at our high school and has students from 9th to 12th grade.
“I’ve had students with autism to social and emotional disorders to Spina Bifida,” Mr. Mummert explains. “One student might struggle in the area of social skills. Another student may struggle with reading and comprehending what they’re reading. It can be a very mixed group.
Our students learn academics in the classroom while focusing on building social, emotional, and life skills. Freshmen and sophomores are assigned homework and practice tasks like laundry, cooking, cleaning, and hygiene. Juniors and seniors prioritize community-based instruction by volunteering at work sites to learn job skills. This includes helping local churches with their food pantries, cleaning with janitorial services, and stocking concession stands.
“They work in the afternoons getting experience for things they may do once they graduate,” Mr. Mummert says. “These skills help our students once they’re out in the real world getting a job.”
Peters joined students on these work sites last year while gaining his Direct Service Provider (DSP) certification. Until this, he never realized all the behind-the-scenes work that can be taken for granted.
“It’s a whole bunch of community service. They go to a church here in Johnston City, pick everything up, clean it, make sure everything is nice,” Peters recalls. “It’s all the things you don’t see them do.”
The DSP Certification is just one healthcare pathway JCHS students can pursue at Johnston City High School. Others include Certified Nursing Assistant, Phlebotomy, Pharmacy Tech, and Emergency Medical Responder. Despite the path students take, they first learn about different types of disabilities during Mrs. Mummert’s Medical Lab classes.
“People need to know there are people that function differently,” Mrs. Mummert explains. “There are people that communicate differently. Just because they’re different, all they want is to be treated as equal.”
Before becoming an instructor, Mrs. Mummert worked extensively in healthcare. The first time she had a class on caring for the disabled population was during a graduate program for her School Nurse Certificate. At that point, she had already earned a Bachelor’s in Nursing. Mrs. Mummert knew she wanted her students to learn these skills earlier in their education.
“I cover it because it’s not covered enough in all the programs that prepare our healthcare workers,” she explains. “This population, they’re going to have appendicitis. They’re going to break ankles. They’re going to seek help for a cold or flu. If you don’t take a little time to approach them a little differently, you’re going to get nowhere.”
To attain their DSP Certification, our students attain clinical hours with Mr. Mummert’s class or at Our Directions, an adult day center in Herrin serving people 18 and up from five counties.
Currently, Senior Jacie Pinkston is working toward completing her clinical hours. She balances her time serving as Vice President of the HOSA-Future Health Professionals Club and a member of the Blood Drive Committee. Pinkston has big plans for her future, either majoring in Biochemistry and taking the MCAT or becoming a Nurse Practitioner and working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“I’ve always been a helpful person,” Pinkston remembers. “My aunt got in a wreck when I was little. I had to help her with showers. I had to help her take care of the babies and the kids. I’ve always learned from a young age how to take care of people. I think that just grew on me as I got older.”
During her clinical hours, she assists Our Directions’ clients with activities of daily living, like meals, toileting, and working on crafts. The focus is always on what the client can do, and then supportive care and assistance are given for what they need help with.
“I've always had a soft spot for people with disabilities,” Pinkston says. “'I’ve always thought they’re super sweet. I think having someone who cares means a lot, and I've always cared for people.”
She also earns clinical hours helping Our Directions’ clients at Helen’s Honey Resale Shop, where community members donate items. Then, clients wash, price, and stock the items for resale. Clients are paid for their work, and profits from the resale shop help to support their paycheck.
Morgan Kash, RN/QIDP at Our Directions, believes clinical hours benefit their programs and clients while filling a need for healthcare workers in southern Illinois.
“Students are doing hands-on work right beside our staff with our friends (clients),” Kash says. “The students are doing whatever the DSPs are doing. We’ve had some that we hire straight out of high school and have a good job.”
Our Directions also puts on a spring event called Bowl N Bop for people in the community with disabilities, and this year marked the event’s 15th anniversary, with more than 460 bowlers. The day starts with dancing and photo opportunities in the Student Center Ballroom. Then, attendees can give their feet a break at lunch and enjoy a pizza buffet. The event concludes with a friendly but competitive game of bowling.
“Every day is a party with Our Directions,” Kash explains. “This is extra special because they're getting to see friends from other agencies and schools from their past, and the people they met at this event in years prior.”
Some of our Medical Lab and DSP students, including Pinkston and Peters, attended with students from Mr. Mummert’s class. This outing is now seen as an end-of-the-school-year celebration and something they look forward to doing together. Peters has attended before, even volunteering to dress up as the bowling ball mascot to greet participants.
“I think this is a great event, and everyone needs to go to this at least once and help out a little bit,” Peters says. “You’re not even helping out, you’re just having a good time.”
Now, the senior is coming to the realization that the countdown to graduation is underway. This could be his final Bowl n Bop and some of the last high school memories with this group of friends.
“I would love to keep coming back and doing this if it's allowed,” he adds.