Nikki McDowell took part in Pickaway-Ross’ senior ceremony May 18 but summer will look a lot like the previous nine months as she continues on a new pathway in nursing offered through the district.
Pickaway-Ross offered high school seniors in Health Science the opportunity to start Adult Education’s Practical Nursing program in September at minimal cost. Nikki, who graduated from Zane Trace, said seniors could choose to study Medical Assisting or LPN and on the LPN pathway, she will be licensed by October.
“I was like, let's go for it,” said Nikki, one of three high school students in the program.
Nikki completed her academics online, attends the nursing program at the Adult Education campus in Chillicothe, performs her clinicals at Ohio Health Berger every other week and works at Valley View Care Center in Frankfort.
It is a full schedule that Nikki says is preparing her for what she’s always wanted to do.
“Basically my whole life, I’ve loved taking care of people. If someone had a cut when I was little, I’d be the one to fix it. So when I went to a hospital, whenever I was like sick or something, I really liked the nurses and that's what I wanted to do. I knew it.”
She knew she wanted to attend Pickaway-Ross when she visited during sophomore tours.
“I saw the mannequins (in the Health Science labs used for hands-on learning) and I was like, ‘this is my life.’”
Nikki’s sister, Kaitlyn, also knew her future would start at Pickaway-Ross.
Kaitlyn said she was in seventh grade when she decided she wanted to enroll in the career center’s Cosmetology program.
“I like hair so much and I would study it all the time and it was just fascinating to me how much you can actually do with hair. And that's what got me into the program.”
Nikki also played a role in Kaitlyn applying to Pickaway-Ross.
“I’m more of a hands-on learner, so I kind of knew what I wanted to do,” Kaitlyn said. “But my sister definitely helped me and pushed me a lot throughout school. She helps me all the time.”
In addition to the curriculum taught by Donna Patrick, Kaitlyn has pursued opportunities to expand her skills, such as attending an event to learn about insurance, banking and saving money. She would also like to be trained in threading, an alternative to eyebrow waxing.
During her junior year, Kaitlyn and her classmates took part in a collaboration through their English class — taught by Tea McCaulla — and created training videos for the Web site Instructables.
Posting as Braidingmaster, Kaitlyn completed six videos during the year. Go to www.instructables.com/Suspende... to see one of her videos.
Kaitlyn hopes to be on job placement her senior year and after graduating next spring her goal is to be a traveling cosmetologist.
Nikki said the opportunities provided by the career center are immeasurable.
Having just finished high school, Nikki said, “I'm extremely excited because … I'm about to get my LPN. I'm so far ahead and it’s paid for. That's amazing. I'm so thankful for that.”