COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Morongo Unified School District & Copper Mountain College
    
Research studies revealed that some children lose interest in school as early as fifth grade.  Such students are too young to leave the education system and may continue unengaged in learning throughout their education experience.  By the time they enter high school they are most likely ill equipped to catch up and often drop out of the education system.  In response to the research data, the Governor of California funded nine grants (SB-70) for community colleges to partner and provide opportunity for students to explore potential career pathways, thereby giving them incentive to excel in school.
       
Glenda Case, Division Chair of Career Technical Education at Copper Mountain College, served as project manager and presented seven academies in partnership with the Morongo Unified School District and local community businesses and agencies.  Middle school students were able to explore potential careers.   Included here are photographs of students from La Contenta and Twentynine Palms Middle Schools as they toured Hi-Desert Medical Center on Friday, October 15.

 

 

 

 

  

Students toured several areas within the main hospital building including the operating room, medical imaging, laboratory, emergency department and birthing center.  The students also met with risk management where they learned about safety issues common to the healthcare setting; with the health information department to learn about patient privacy and confidentiality; and with the infection prevention director who taught them the proper way to wash their hands.

 

  

 
 

   

 Finally, the students met in the Helen Gray Education Center with guest speakers who shared about the  long-term care setting at the Continuing Care Center; the director of rehabilitation services who demonstrated techniques to assist patients; and the nurse educator who reviewed basic life-saving techniques and quizzed them on what they observed in the morning's tour.  Lunch was served before they returned to the Copper Mountain College campus.