A Certified Nurse Aide pinning ceremony was held for 11 Vernon High School students Thursday evening in the VHS Cafeteria. The students went through the CNA program this year as juniors and all of them passed their state exam the last week of April and are certified.
April Maldonado, the Health Careers instructor at VHS, said this was the first year she had all the CNA students pass their state exam in the same week.
“All the hard work we have put in has paid off and I know they feel so much relief and should feel very happy with their accomplishment,” she told the parents and friends of the students who were in attendance. “This is a great group of kids and I am proud of all the work they have put in.”
The CNA students put in a total of 200 hours of classwork, 40 hours of clinical rotations and spent long hours in the lab room practicing their skills over and over for their skills exam. To stay in the program, the students had to maintain good attendance and keep an average of 80 or above.
With this certification, the students can work in a nursing home caring for older or disabled patients or in a hospital.
A Top Student Award was also presented to a representative from each of the CNA classes. Receiving Top Student honors went to Jairy Vazquez and Kaw Moo.
“These students not only do what is expected to be done in the program but work above and beyond,” the instructor said. “They maintained a high average throughout the year in the program and excelled at their clinical site rotations and in the lab room. And, they always had a positive attitude with their peers and myself, and in school.”
Students receiving their CNA pins were: Litzy Ayala, Nakiya Butler, Amya Chavira, Jaxon Cochran, Elizabeth Jordan, Lesly Lopez-Romero, Sianna Martinez, Rilynn Mason, Kaw Moo, Natalie Ramirez and Jairy Vasquez.