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Meridian Medical Arts Charter School seniors preparing for graduation

Posted at 4:31 PM, Apr 24, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-24 20:16:24-04

MERIDIAN — Meridian Medical Arts Charter School will soon celebrate its fourteenth graduating class and its biggest, with 50 students earning their diplomas. There are still a few things left to do before the big day approaches.

"They all have to have a certification as a CNA or EMT before they graduate," said principal Scott Hill.

The curriculum has all the standard subjects, like math and English, but there's also a strong medical-focus involved. The studies and the certifications give these students a leg-up before their first days of college, but they also serve another purpose.

"That provides them an opportunity to get a job in a healthcare field while they're going to college to help offset those payments because college is incredibly expensive," said Hill.

Levi is heading off to the University of Tulsa to pursue a degree in biochemistry, hopefully bringing an EMT certification with him to work in the field along the way.

"The plan is this will be summer job and picking up shifts in college," said graduating senior Levi Zander.

While he's practicing for the national certification testing, the patient is not breathing so we assist their ventilations using positive pressures" another senior says this is the work that helped her decide to pursue a similar field at the University of Utah.

"I never really knew if I wanted to go into the medical field, so I used this school as a propeller to kind of get me interested in it," said graduating senior Idara Akpan.

As graduation day draws nearer, the students are busy making plans for their future, but a part of them will always stay behind.

"When I see students work hard and I see overcome their obstacles and reach their goal, how could someone not be touched by that," said Hill, "they came here because they had a passion and a desire to be in medicine, and they made it."