By Keisa Sharpe-Jefferson | The Birmingham Times
Maria Manuel, a ninth-grade student at Huffman High School, wants to be an ultrasound technician.
“The most interesting thing I learned in this program is about the diet, what people are not supposed to eat, what they can eat, and what’s not healthy for them,” Manuel said.
Jasmyne Miles, also a ninth grader at Huffman, really enjoys the “hands-on” aspect of learning about nursing and literally lit up as she explained why she wants to be a pediatric nurse.
“I realized that I found more pleasure in taking care of younger kids, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have to take up health care,’” Miles said. “I’m like, ‘This is something that’s really for me,’ and it was such a passion.”
Manuel and Miles are just a few of the students in Huffman High School’s Academy of Health Science magnet program who are learning the nursing industry with exposure to hands-on, professional experience.
And that, said Birmingham City Schools (BCS) Superintendent Mark Sullivan, Ed.D., will prove invaluable to the “diverse group of students” enrolled in the program.
“One of things we know in the health care field is that people feel more comfortable around those they can relate to, [and] oftentimes African Americans and Latinos don’t really have representation in their nurses and doctors,” Sullivan told The Birmingham Times.
“This [program] is building out a pipeline for young African American and Latino boys and girls who can be in the health care field and have jobs that can really transform their lives.”
Forging A Path
The Pathway to Professional Nursing program, which launched in the fall of 2023 at Huffman High School, is designed to prepare students for post-secondary education.
The program, in its first year at Huffman High School and being offered to ninth graders, will be “expanding next year to include Woodlawn, Wenonah, and Ramsey high schools,” said Sullivan, adding that this is key for students because “they will have credentials and also a leg up when they graduate.”
Previously, the nursing program worked with students in grades 10 through 12.
The program goes beyond nursing, said Crystal Freeman, Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.), who is the Health Science Instructor at Huffman High School.
“Health Sciences is the broad name in terms of what students can pursue in career pathways, so we’re not just focusing only on nursing,” said Freeman.
“There are students who truly have interest in other careers related to health care, but many of the students—particularly the female students—only want to learn more about nursing. So many of the skills overlap, regardless of what career pathway they choose,” said Freeman, who earned her D.N.P. degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2009.
The Power of Partnership
UAB is a key partner in providing this educational foundation, and Huffman High School was an ideal choice for the program because it had an existing designation as an Academy of Health Science, complete with readily accessible resources, such as a health care skills lab with a nursing station and manikins. The program is currently managed and co-directed by UAB School of Nursing Instructor Allyson Sanders, a Registered Nurse (R.N.) who works directly with the students at Huffman.
Students are not only investing in their future education but also creating more opportunities to secure a job in a vital profession, she said.
“The plan is to build a pathway from the high school straight to the university, and the goal is to increase diversity within the nursing workforce,” said Sanders. “The plan is also to engage students at an early age in nursing … [and] Health Sciences in general. We do a lot of the foundational nursing skills at this age, and throughout their high school years.”
While the basics of the nursing profession are important, she said much more is being taught to the 19 freshman students enrolled in this course of study.
“We talk about how to communicate. We talk about finding resolutions and problem solving. … Just learning life skills. I think that’s important,” said Sanders, who earned a Master of Nursing Education degree from UAB in 2018. She comes to Huffman for one hour three days a week to work with students in the program.
Pathway to Professional Nursing students have an opportunity to take advanced and dual-enrollment classes, visit the UAB campus on a scheduled basis, and participate in summer enrichment activities.
They also are trained and certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), equipping them with the skills to administer life-saving assistance to someone whose breathing or heartbeat has stopped. And they are prepared to take the Patient Care Technician certification exam upon graduation.
Sanders has seen some students who previously struggled with attendance not miss a single class while working with the nursing program. What’s even more remarkable, she said, is the way the program helps students overcome learning obstacles.
“Their education piece is difficult,” Sanders said. “There’s a lot of math. There’s a lot of science. When you have students that are coming from difficult backgrounds … [and they have] an opportunity to be exposed to some things earlier, I think that gives [them] a better chance of being successful.”
Taliyah Merritt, another ninth grader in the Pathway to Professional Nursing program, said her mother, who’s a nurse, served as her inspiration.
“I knew I wanted to be a nurse when, whenever I was at home and my mom came home from work, she talked about her days at work and all the different things that she did,” said the student.
But her motivation goes even deeper: “Every day, you get to go home and reflect and think about how many people you’ve helped,” said Merritt.
A Veteran’s Perspective
Deborah Thedford-Zimmerman is the current historian of Birmingham Black Nurses Association, Inc., and one of the organization’s past presidents. She’s also the coordinator of Birmingham Black Nurses leadership and knows the importance of introducing students to the profession.
“As mature nurses, we need to help mold and shape the younger nurses,” said Thedford-Zimmerman. “We need to talk to them just to let them know that we are there to support them, so that we may be able to help alleviate the disparity in the workforce because there are not enough nurses to help our communities.”
She added that programs like the nursing curriculum at Huffman High School “are needed for our students.”
Progressing Forward
Working with BCS has been a fulfilling partnership, Sanders said. “It’s our way of giving back to this community, … which is a big part of not just the hospital but the university itself. … The [UAB] School of Nursing is lucky to be part of that,” she said.
BCS Superintendent Sullivan said, while he’s proud that the program at Huffman High School is building a “pipeline” of nurses to combat an industry shortage, he’s also excited about why students are participating.
During a recent program at Huffman, the superintendent said, “I was listening to one of the students talk about why she wants to be a nurse, and it’s just heartwarming to see the commitment these students have at such a young age to really give back to their community.”
