TEACHING TOMMOROW'S LEADERS
Woods' high school program helps steer seniors in right way
By JIMMY GALVAN

JASPER SENIOR JILL MUGG checks a student at Few Primary as she works in the nurses' office weekdays through the school coop program.

Mary Katherine Woods has seen quite a few prospective health profession students come through her doors at Jasper High School.

"I love teaching this to high school students," Woods said. "So many of my students have benefited from this program. I am preparing these kids to go to hospitals to work.

"Without the community support, this program would not even exist," Woods said. "This program is valuable and the payoff is worth it. If you like caring for people, then the future is so bright for you in this field."

And for Woods, the proof of her success lies in her students who praise the program and the leadership Woods brings to it.

Crystal Bishop, a 2001 graduate of Jasper High School, credits Woods for her nursing career, which presently is a position as an ICU nurse with the Texas Medical Center.

"She always built us up to do anything that we wanted to do," Bishop said of Woods. "She pretty much told me that the sky was my limit and helped me with anything I did.

"She was pretty openminded to anything we wanted to do as well," Bishop said.

Bishop, who attended San Jacinto College-Pasadena, also credited the co-op program for leading her in the right direction for a career choice.

"The co-op class gave me a chance to go out to hospitals before I even decided on a career," Bishop said. "I was interested in the nursing profession and that was why I decided to join the class. I was very fortunate that it was available for me."

Another student that Woods pointed to as a shining example of the program is Marianne Youngblood (Crawford).

Youngblood cited the experience she had while had working in the co-op program as a big influence in her career. It also helped that her parents work in the medical field as well.

"I believe it is important for all high school kids to participate in some form of a career preparation course, whether it be medical or business co-op or welding," Youngblood said. "This allows kids to take part in different occupations and helps them discover their interests. That is what the co-op program did for me.

"The medical co-op program helped me to determine what area/specialty of healthcare appealed to me the most," Youngblood said. "I also enjoyed the health coop with Mrs. Woods because it was the first course I had taken that gave me a sense of purpose and responsibility."

After graduating from high school, Youngblood attended Texas A&M University while working at College Station Medical Center. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, Youngblood married and moved to Beaumont where she enrolled in Lamar University's nursing program.

She graduated in December and began work as an RN in the emergency room at Christus St. Elizabeth in Beaumont.

"I truly believe nursing is the most rewarding job for me and working in the ER is a very exciting location," Youngblood said. "My mom (Maureen Bidwell, RN) was a huge inspiration for me to join the field of medicine though I know the rewarding experiences I had through the co-op program influenced many decisions along the way."

When it was all said and done, Youngblood said it was Woods who inspired her towards her nursing career.

"I am well aware that my experience through the coop program would not have been near as rewarding as it was, had it not been for Mrs. Woods," Youngblood said. "It was evident in all that she did, that this was the kind of instructor who was truly there for her students and would only expect the best performance from each of us.

"Mrs. Woods was such an inspiring teacher because she not only taught the 'textbook,' but she taught us traits that are important to being successful in life such as, responsibility, dependability, honesty, and loyalty," Youngblood said.

Woods points out that even through hard economic times, the medical field remains one of the larger employers in an area.

The classes are offered under the umbrella of health science technology education. A number of her classes center on health professions as careers.

She teaches issues such as ethics, legal issues on health care, infection control and CPR certification.

Two advance courses include a health co-op course, in which high school students are placed in paid positions in the medical work field by the program to see how they adapt to that profession.

"The kids in this program I choose after they apply for it," Woods said. "These students have to have good grades and I look for students with a certain attitude and trustworthiness because these positions have a lot of responsibility."

A second advanced class is a clinical rotation class where these students have the opportunity to observe medical procedures at Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital and school nurses.

She said a number of her students who enter these two programs often chose the medical field upon leaving high school.

Woods said the courses are well sought at the beginning of the year by students who have a genuine interest in the medical field.

"There is a basic class and from that class I will make my first picks for the clinical rotation and co-op class," Woods said. "I tell them to come, do well and I will try to find a place for them."

Some students have taken the courses and moved on to the medical professions, Woods said, however, there are also a number of students who found out the medical field wasn't for them after serving in the clinical rotation class.

"I can usually tell and I will have students say they can't do it as well," Woods said. "Students who are in clinical rotation at the hospital have seen babies born, deaths and surgeries.

"Some love the surgeries and some get sick to their stomach and some feel faint and start to go to the floor," Woods laughed. "I teach them the symptoms to look for if they are starting to feel faint, if they do, well, they are in a good setting for that too."

For Allison Bush, Woods inspired her to follow her childhood dreams of becoming a nurse.

"My dream of becoming a nurse began very early as a child," Bush said. "My passion is providing care and comfort to those who are medically ill, especially infants and the elderly."

Bush graduated in 1995 with her LVN license and should complete her RN degree this May.

She said the co-op program gave her a great base to learn the medical field and decide on whether the profession was the right one for her.