New Vision Graduates Celebrate Accomplishments

SARANAC LAKE - In front of friends, family, and supporters, 10 area students graduated from the New Vision program on June 12 during a packed ceremony held in the Redfield Room at Adirondack Medical Center.

In addition to graduating from the program, four of the students received a combined $4,000 in scholarship funds from the Saranac Lake Voluntary Health Association.  This local health care organization is over 110 years old, and currently offers a visiting nurse program, covers the costs associated with providing a dental hygienist to the Saranac Lake School District, facilitates care and payment for special medical or dental needs, provides financial assistance for hearing aids, and loans medical equipment to people in need. 

This was the first year of awarding scholarships to students pursuing careers in health care, and the recipients of the $1,000 individual scholarships were Sarah Paiement (Tupper Lake), Sara Preston (Saranac Lake), Allysa Houle (Tupper Lake), and Brian LaRoe (Saranac Lake).

The students also found a way to give back to AMC.  Having held several fundraisers throughout the course of the year to pay for a class trip to Boston, the students decided to donate $200 in excess funds to the Decker Community Learning Center at AMC.  The Decker Community Learning Center offers information and education on a wide variety of topics, and has a registered nurse on duty to answer questions and explain complex health issues.

This year's graduating class included seven students from Saranac Lake and three from Tupper Lake. The graduating class included Emily Labarge (TL), Sarah Paiement (TL), Byran LaRoe (SL), Alex Beideck (SL), Brian Wolff (SL), Maegan Meade (SL), Allyssa Houle (TL), Emily Lennon (SL), Sara Preston (SL), Emmett Garnish (SL).

This New Vision program, now in its sixth year of existence at AMC, offers high school seniors the opportunity to gain onsite hospital experience and learn about health care careers. The students meet in the New Vision classroom in the LaTour Building adjacent to AMC, and interact with staff and hospital personnel who take time to explain and teach the students about health care careers and assist them as they pursue their college educations.

The students rotate throughout the different areas of the hospital including the emergency room, cancer center, intensive care unit, medical imaging, rehabilitation services, administration, laboratory, surgical, and nursing services. The students receive important observational experiences to help them make decisions about their future and any highly skilled or specialized positions they dream of holding some day.  In addition, students take a college-level anatomy and physiology class, political science, and medical terminology courses as well as delving into complex topics affecting the health care world today.

The staff at AMC works hard to make this experience not only educational for the students, but also unique and engaging. For example, the individual clinical areas have developed activities and information that they share with the students. The lab will show the students preserved slides of various blood disorders, the pharmacy will demonstrate how IV medications are prepared, and each of the students has the opportunity to learn about diabetes education first hand by testing their own blood glucose. 

The requirements to attend the class are quite demanding: Students must demonstrate above average written and verbal skills, they must have completed three years of science and three years of math, they must be recommended by their high school guidance counselor and principal, and they must meet health standards for working in a hospital setting.

Upon completion of the program, participating students will have secured 13 credit hours from North Country Community College, which are transferable. A majority of the students from the New Vision Program have gone on to four-year college programs with the intent of pursuing a health care career.

New Vision is a division of the Adirondack Educational Center and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services Sole Supervisory District of Franklin, Essex and Hamilton Counties (BOCES). For more information, contact Alison Riley-Clark at 897-2207.

CAPTION 1: This year's New Vision graduates include (back row, left to right) Brian Wolff, Sarah Paiement, Alex Beideck, Emmett Garnish, Bryan LaRoe, and Instructor Alison Riley-Clark.  (Front row, left to right) Rhonda Meserole (Government/Economics teacher), Robin Williams (RN, Medical Imaging), Sara Preston, Allysa Houle, Emily LaBarge, Maegan Meade, and Emily Lennon.

CAPTION 2: The recipients of the Saranac Lake Voluntary Health Association Scholarships were Sarah Paiement, Allysa Houle, Mark Simkins (Vice President of the SLVHA), Sara Preston and Bryan LaRoe.  Each of the four students received a $1,000 scholarship to apply to defraying college expenses.

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