1. A Rural Secondary Teachers’ Alliance Encourages Success in College Health-Care Programs How Did We Plug Them into a Support Network?

2. Presentation Outline What is the RHA? How Did We Develop It?
What Brings Us All Together?
What’s a Typical Institute Like?
What Have We Accomplished?
Where Do We Go from Here?

3. Who Is the Rural Healthcare Alliance?
Santa Fe College
High School Academies
Healthcare Industry
Santa Fe College was established as a community college in 1965, and has been a state college since 2008
Santa Fe College (a charter member of the League) offers over 90 career and technical programs, 11 of which are in Health Sciences (one of our specialties)
The HS academies started as a group of 8 with articulation agreements with SF – we continue to grow and now have over 3 high schools involved with the RHA
Gainesville is healthcare hub in SE; major medical centers, rural hospitals, clinics, nursing home facilities – this equals jobs

4. Who Are We - Where Is the RHA
North Central Florida
We started with:
Healthcare Employers (8)
Community Colleges (3)
High Schools (8)
Universities (2)
Community Organizations
(100’s)
(13)
(Heart of Florida)

5. Communities brought together by a DOL grant
Goal: Increase number of qualified professionals to fill Nursing & Allied Health vacancies in the Heart of Florida
Focus: Support Rural High School Health Academies
Result: Better prepared students
Though we have been together for over 30yrs and have collaborated on numerous projects and consortia, the advent of CBJT grant from the DOL was the impetus to become proactive in supporting our High School partners (Students from the Gainesville High School Academy of Health Professions have been honored by the School Board of Alachua County for their recent success in the Health Occupations Student Association’s (HOSA) national competition) – 6500 participants nationally, and four Alachua Co HS students placed.

6. What have we tried? Technology Access Networking Curriculum Support
The DOL grant afforded us the opportunity to get some of the newest educational technology and curriculum information to the high schools but we needed to a way to do this. The features we wanted to take to the academies could be done through an annual meeting – thus the inception of the Rural Health Alliance’s High School Teacher Institute.
Tech access – bought computers for the programs; supplied mp3 players for podcasting; digital cameras
Networking – brought all outlying communities together with post-secondary instructors
Curriculum Support – facilitated networking with publishers; “difficult concepts” series; interaction with college faculty

7. RHA Teachers’ Institute
a Typical Experience
An example of what we could do while still supported by DOL funding. Once a year event, and we were able to pay for teacher subs and teacher travel

8. What is the Teachers’ Institute Today?
With a little help from our friends (Perkins Initiatives)
The program is now a one-day event, but held twice annually. In the fall we address renewing and updates to the articulation agreements. Still find ways to supply teachers with vital items (books, software, jump drives)

9. Who Comes to the RHA Teachers’ Institute

10. Accomplishments Networking with rural academies
Expanded offerings with the academies
Increased Post-secondary options
Through networking with publishers, post-secondary faculty, and fellow academy faculty the programs have grown and the students entering the programs are now some of the best and brightest. Further, the academies have been able to expand their offerings with the help of the RHA and community support through clinical sites.
Upon graduation options include:
Education at post-secondary level
Allied health fields – respiratory & rehabilitation aids
Nursing – CAN
Dental – Dental Aid
Emergency Medical Services – EMT
Pharmacy Technician

11. Evaluating the RHA Teachers’ Institute
Then (in 2006 , 2007 and 2008)
Assessment of the 1st three years of the teachers’ institute was done sing an onsite eval, based on 1-5 likert scale, 1 = least valuable, 5= most valuable

12. Evaluating the RHA Teachers’ Institute
Now (2010 and 2011)
Began using survey monkey in last two years to develop a more robust report and analysis of the meeting outcomes.

13. What’s new? Pre-testing High School Instructor Coaching
Re-writing Exams

14. Analysis of Success? Health Cores College Courses
Introduction to Health Care (3.0 cr hrs)
Medical Terminology (3.0 cr hrs)
College Sciences Courses
Human Anatomy & Physiology (4.0 cr hrs)
Elements of Chemistry (4.0 cr hrs)

15. Questions?