Three students have graduated from Central High School’s inaugural emergency medical responder course at the ATEC Academy, and interest in the class is growing.
That’s according to an update on the program given to the Aberdeen Public Board of Education during its regular meeting on Monday, April 8 at the District Service Center.
The course was added this year and gives students a path to certification as an emergency medical responder and eligibility to take an emergency medical technician course and obtain that certification.
Central teacher Karen De Brine said the course wouldn’t have been possible without Keith Sharisky, who is the director of training at Aberdeen Fire & Rescue. De Brine also acknowledged others involved in the creation of the course, including school district administrators.
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As an emergency medical responder, De Brine said, students are certified in providing basic life support. Emergency medical technicians provide a more technical response.
Beyond that, a person can get certified as an advanced emergency medical technician and provide advanced life support and as a paramedic to provide treatment, diagnosis and emergency intervention.
“We couldn’t have done this without help from Aberdeen Fire & Rescue,” she said. “They loaned us all sorts of equipment that we didn’t even know we needed.”
Superintendent Becky Guffin said federal funding the district received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act was used to set up the program. There was additional support from the Aberdeen Public Schools Foundation.
“So it was no cost to the district to add this,” she said.
De Brine said students had to pass several timed emergency scenarios to complete the course and four tests to be eligible for non-emergency medical travel certification. Completion of the course also makes students eligible for a three-term emergency medical technician course that will be offered in the 2024-25 school year in October following the district’s second emergency medical responder course.
“This was a collaboration between Aberdeen Central, ATEC, Aberdeen Fire & Rescue and the city,” Sharisky said. “Every agency in the state of South Dakota is in need of emergency medical responders, EMTs and paramedics.”
Aurelia Steiger, one of three graduates of the class, said she can now help in a variety of situations, including stopping the bleeding in the event of an amputation. She said she plans to study nursing at South Dakota State University.
Emma Keefe, a student who helped with the class, said the course is a big deal.
“I wasn’t in the class, but I did learn a bunch of skills,” she said.
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School board member Brad Olson said that as someone who worked in the health care industry, he thinks the course is exactly what’s needed.
“I commend you,” he said. “This is what education should be about. There’s so much to learn. Unless you do it hands on, it’s not the same.”
Board hears from international science fair qualifiers, esports champion
School board members also heard that this is the first year that four Central students have qualified for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. Seniors Grant Fritz and Samson Flakus qualified as a team and Christian Wells and Kirra Stillman qualified individually.
The international science fair is Los in Angeles in May.
The students took on advanced topics. Fritz and Flakus studied the effect of runoff contaminants on plant growth. Stillman experimented with increasing the efficiency of solar cells. Wells created new macular antibiotics by modifying an existing antibiotic.
Asked about their future fields of study, three plan to study biochemistry. Fritz said he plans to study engineering.
Board members also heard from sophomore Grey Hauge, who competed in the state’s first esports state tournament and won the championship in chess.
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Hauge said he thought the experience was a fun one.
“I got to play chess a lot,” he said. “Esports is a really good thing. I had a lot of fun there, and I think everyone else did, too.”
Hauge said he began playing chess competitively about a year ago.
C.C. Lee celebrating 50 years
C.C. Lee Principal Chris Osborn said the elementary school is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Named after philanthropist Clifford Carl Lee, Osborn said the school has had 217 staff and five principals during its history.
This year, students put together a time capsule to be opened in 15 years and they’re planning to plant a tree toward the end of the school year in a ceremony involving past principals of the school.
Olson said it’d be nice to see a tree planted for each of the principals.
Board member Duane Alm, who served as one of the school’s principals, said C.C. Lee has a special history being the first open-space school to be built.
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“It did create a lot of conversation in the community,” he said. “That was the nature of things.”
In other action, the board approved the annual workers’ compensation contract and several negotiated contracts with staff and teachers.
The workers’ comp agreement is for $270,000, which is a $60,000 increase. That was a result of a jump in the amount spent on claims and the 4.28% payroll increase in teacher and administration contracts.