Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools Nov/Dec 2017 | Page 5

Continued...UCPS and CHS celebrate new Health Sciences Academy at Monroe Middle
Next year, seventh graders will take courses on scientific
approaches to problem solving and sports management/medicine.
By the fall of 2019, eighth graders will learn bioengineering and
health technologies.
to problem solving and sports management/medicine. By the
fall of 2019, eighth graders will learn bioengineering and health
technologies.
“Our entire team has said we pledge to empower scholars to
be confident, academically prepared and resilient to overcome
present challenges and conquer future opportunities. Those future
opportunities are the essence of what this transformation is all
about,” said MMS Principal Denny Ferguson. “What you’re going
to see is tons of opportunities that our scholars are going to be
exposed to that will open their eyes to all of the opportunities that
are out there for them, and we are all about preparing them.”
Through the partnership, CHS Union has provided a full-
time STEM specialist who is the liaison between the school
and hospital. The liaison helps to develop curriculum and lead
professional development sessions for teachers as well as create
internship/externship opportunities and career-building activities
for students.
CHS Union President Mike Lutes said he considers the Health
Sciences Academy to be a “reinvention” that is the result of the
local community, school district and CHS all working together to
support the middle school.
By introducing clinical and operational aspects of healthcare,
they hope to inspire the students to pursue healthcare in high
school and beyond.
“We are giving students the greatest gifts possible: hope
and opportunity. Hope to find a calling and opportunity to have
expansive resources so that every child can be successful,” he
said. “This academy is a gift because when the school doors open
every morning, we are providing endless hope and opportunities
for every student.”
Back in the laboratory, sixth grade student Alexandra Jimenez
said she has enjoyed her time in the health sciences academy’s
class. She enjoys learning about neuroscience and how the brain
works, she said, and is now thinking about pursuing a career in
the healthcare field.
“Everything that we’re learning here is going to help us when
we grow up. When we get older and someone is in trouble, we
can help them because we’ll know what’s going on in their body,”
she said. “And learning this now will help us in the future because
then we’ll know a little more about the healthcare field and won’t
have to learn all of this at once.”
As Nikia prepared to leave the laboratory, she said she
continues to be wowed by the information that her son has
already learned after only a few months in the class.
“I’m hoping they take this and really run with it and have
some experiences that they never would have been able to have
before,” she said. “It’s mind-blowing to see how the school has
changed from 30 years ago to this. I never would have thought
that we would have anything like this at Monroe Middle School.
It’s really exciting to see this happening.”
—This article was provided by the Union County Public
Schools Communications Office.
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Parent Teacher Magazine • Nov/Dec 2017 • 3