This year, Seminole High School’s Academy of Health Careers, more commonly referred to as the Health Academy, underwent quite a few changes. Before this year, students could take three tests to obtain certifications through the Health Academy, the CNA, the Electrocardiogram (EKG), and the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) tests. Prior to this year, there was no fee for the EKG and CMAA test, though it has come close to not being that way.

According to Mr. Michael Hennessy, guidance counselor for Health Academy, the two options for this year were to either have students pay for half of the EKG and CMAA tests, or for all of the tests to be free to students.  In previous years, students who took the Nursing Assistance course would have to pay $70 to take the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) test while the school payed the other half of the $140 fee.

Though it seems counter intuitive for the school to pay more for student’s tests, it is actually very helpful to them because the new system will allow students to take the exams only when they’re ready. Students will have their progress monitored through a series of practice tests, to see whether or not they are prepared to take the real certification test. Only when they attain sufficient scores can they test for the certification.

“I want more students to participate in the [Health] Academy, so our numbers will grow, and [students] will have more opportunities after they graduate,” says Hennessy.

In addition to the other courses Health Academy has offered since its inception, it has also added a new certification exam to its roster, the Emergency Medical Responder Certification test.

“The money part [of the tests] is a good thing, but if someone’s a bad test taker, it would be annoying to take the pre-tests before taking the certification test,” says Health Academy senior Jose Ortiz.

The significance of these tests is that they give industry level certifications required by many employers, making students eligible for more jobs. This is similar to the certifications given by Adobe and Microsoft Certification tests. 

Hennessy says, “I want students to graduate from here with both hands full: [a] diploma in one hand, and an industry certification [. . .] in the other hand.”

The Health Academy’s main goal is to further student’s careers, and these changes will help to make more students prepared for the future.