Story posted Thursday, January 21, 2010
Dist. 211 Adds Mandarin, Health Career Courses
High School Dist. 211 students will have two new programs of study to add to their course selection beginning next fall---Chinese Mandarin and Health Career Exploration.
According to the district, Chinese Mandarin is a language of growing interest as the United States has an increasing amount of commercial and political interaction with the world's most populous nation and one of the fastest growing economies in the past decade.
A recent survey conducted at each Dist. 211 high school suggested there were enough students interested in Chinese Mandarin.
The course offered next year will be the first-year course in Chinese Mandarin and will represent an entry-level curriculum. The course will focus on verbal and written language acquisition, and also culture.
Pending success of the first course, levels 2-4 and an Advanced Placement (AP) course are planned for future years so students enrolled in the course would have a full curriculum that is available to them all four years, like all other language offerings in the district.
District officials claim the extended health care field will significantly grow in the next 10 years. This includes careers that are commonly identified with medical and health field such as doctors and nurses, and also includes technicians, medical assistants, emergency responders, medical office workers, therapists, pharmaceutical professionals, athletic and personal trainers, and wellness-related occupations.
Next fall, juniors and seniors at all five district schools will have an opportunity to enroll in the first course of the Health Career Program that is being developed. The courses, Health Career Exploration and Medical Terminology, will combine an overview of health industry careers that are projected to offer employments cover the next decade with the training and education that is required to successfully pursue college and career options in that field.
Additionally, this course will include an overview of medical terminology and will present guest lectures from, and career visits to, various medical and health industries.
Pending the success of the first course, two additional health career courses will be offered to seniors in the fall 2011.
According to district officials, introduction to Psychology and Certified Nurse's Assistant would provide both a "solid foundation" for advanced medical and health field study and would enhance post-secondary entry into related college programs.
Also, the Certified Nurses' Assistant courses follows an Illinois Dept., of Health curriculum, enabling students who successfully complete the course to test for State of Illinois certification as a nurses' assistant and empower graduating students to seek immediate employment as health field professionals.
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