Carol Owens / The Meridian StarNortheast Lauderdale High School Health Occupation Students of America students, from left, Raegan Jay, Morgan Dubose, Jayla Smith, Tyler Smith, Caroline Kercheval and Jayden Dominy visited Aldersgate on Weddnesday. Resident Delores Hasselle, a 30-year retired registered nurse, spoke to the students about the importance of doing something for others each day. Pictured to her right is Marsha Hannah, marketing director for Aldersgate.

Students involved in the Health Occupation Students of America at Northeast High School visited Wednesdsay with residents at Aldersgate Retirement Community as part of a program that can help reaffirm a pursuit of healthcare studies or place them on another track.

Six sophomore students under the direction of Jan Trawick, HOSA director, toured the facility and learned about the needs of the elderly. Aldersgate residents are ages 62 years and up. There are 30 HOSA students total in grades 10-12 at the school.

Trawick started HOSA in the Lauderdale County School District in 1995 and has seen many of her former students go onto rewarding careers in the healthcare field as well as other career paths. Some are now doctors, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, physical therapists and dental hygienists.

Some start out in HOSA and realize a career in healthcare is not for them at all.

“They find their place,” Trawick saud. “One became a banker, one a minister, insurance salesman and many others are in the healthcare field working as a doctor, nurse anesthetist, flight nurse and optometrist.”

Five of the students touring Aldersgate said they want to continue their education and pursue the healthcare field. One said she wants to be an attorney.

Caroline Kercheval plans to go to medical school and said she loves working with geriatric patients and may go into family medicine or oncology. She will soon be going on her fourth mission trip and said HOSA has helped equip her for some of the work she does with the homeless people and other groups. Her mission trips have kept her in the United States.

“We realize we don’t have to go out of the country to help people,” Kercheval said. “I have worked with some of the poorest in bad areas.”

Her next mission trip is to Atlanta and she will be joined by another HOSA student, Jada Dominy, who said she wants to either be a psychiatrist like her mother, or be an endocrinologist, which was influenced by her medical condition of being a Type 1 diabetic. Endocrinologist are very important in the study of diabetic patients who are specially trained physicians that diagnose diseases related to hormones and the glands.

Tyler Smith has also taken what he’s learned in HOSA to benefit him in his mission trip work. His first trip was with his grandparents at the age of six on a trip to Alaska. Smith’s career goal is to either be a pediatrician or director of a medical facility.

“I like both kids and leadership,” Smith said.

His mission work has taken him to Alaska, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala.

Student Raegan Jay hasn’t completely narrowed her career path down yet but said she will be either a neonatal nurse practitioner working in the babies nursery, or a travel nurse or flight nurse. “I have always had a passion for kids,” she said.

Many of the students seem to be drawn to working with children. Morgan Dubose wants to become a pediatrician and plans to study at the University of Mississippi.

“I love taking care of babies and children,” Dubose said. “I was always the oldest of my cousins and the one who always was changing diapers and other things.”

She also plays flute in the NEHS marching band and hopes to get a scholarship through her music.

Jayla Smith has decided she does not want to be in the healthcare field. Though she enjoys HOSA, Smith has decided on a career as a lawyer.

“I realize I don’t want to work with patients,” Smith said. “I like to argue and debate.”

Students were given a tour of Aldersgate by Marsha Hannah, director of marketing, who said she’s proud to work for the faith-based facility. Aldersgate is a ministry of Methodist Senior Services.

“We are serving older adults in the spirit of Christian love,” Hannah said. “We hope that in the future we see some of these students coming here to work with our residents. They are here to view Aldersgate from our prospective. We want to introduce them at any age to the service industry. They may be our future caregivers or executive directors.”

Hannah showed the students sections of the facility from the cafeteria to where some of the residents live. Residents welcomed the students as they passed in the hallway.

A reception was held Wednesday afternoon for Trawick, who will retire effective June 1 after serving for 23 years in the school district and two at the John C. Stennis Center in DeKalb. She was able to get her medical education through the military by serving as a flight nurse after completing her registered nurse program. She also has a bachelor of science in nursing.