(KNZA)--The Hiawatha School District will offer its own Certified Nursing Assistant Class at the high school, beginning next school year.
District Curriculum Director Lori Fordyce told the USD 415 Board of Education at their November 10th meeting that the district will be teaming up with the Maple Heights Nursing and Rehab Center to offer the semester long class during the regular school day.
Currently, students have to travel to Atchison or Baileyville to take the class, which is held in the evening.
The course will give juniors and seniors the opportunity to obtain their CNA license through the high school, and provide both high school and college credit.
Elementary school nurse Heather Gildersleeve will be teaching the classroom portion, while Maple Heights Nursing Home Administrator Lori Reiger will be doing the clinical portion.
Highland Community College will be providing the compensation to both instructors.
The district has been awarded a $6,000 grant to provide the equipment for the program and HCC will be providing the textbooks.
Fordyce said the program will not only benefit the district's students but the community as a whole. She said a CNA is a high demand job in Kansas, but especially in Brown County.
