AdventHealth and Junior Achievement of Central Florida to inspire future health caregivers

At an event last week in Kissimmee, the CEOs of AdventHealth and Junior Achievement of Central Florida announced a new partnership with schools in Osceola and Orange counties to encourage students to learn about healthcare careers and explore potential job training opportunities.

The announcement was made at Junior Achievement’s annual Inspire youth career expo held Jan. 23 at Osceola Heritage Park.

“Ensuring we continue to build a pipeline of compassionate people to care for the communities we serve now and in the future, is a top priority at AdventHealth,” said Sheila Rankin, CEO of AdventHealth Kissimmee. “This program gives us a unique opportunity to spark interest in healthcare careers for the workforce of the future.”

Junior Achievement of Central Florida is heavily engaged in bringing career education to Osceola classrooms. Their 3DE program, which incorporates real-world connectivity and projectbased learning, is available to students at Osceola High School.

“By regularly having AdventHealth employees in classrooms across Central Florida, we are hearing directly from students on what they want to see as they consider going into the healthcare industry,” said Karen Revels, President and CEO of Junior Achievement of Central Florida.

Through close collaboration, both CEOs said their organizations are looking to kick start a transformative approach to education and enhance work and career readiness skills in the healthcare industry.

More than a typical career fair, this year’s Inspire brought together over 30 businesses from various industries, including Health and Human Services, Arts and Hospitality, Business Marketing and Finance, Construction, Manufacturing, and Transportation. Government agencies and authorities such as the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and the Kissimmee Utility Authority also participated. Each organization in attendance indicated a willingness to invest in career education to develop trained and experienced employees to serve the community in the future, and over twenty educational and career training organizations were on hand to highlight their programs.

The several thousand eighth-grade students who attended the Inspire expo participated in hands-on activities, including using equipment or tools used on a job. Realistic teaching stations used in training in the medical field added an element of realism. The expo lasted several hours to ensure each student could explore all of the career fields present and collected stamps and each station in a passport that was turned in to draw for prizes.

For more information on Junior Achievement’s programs, see https://bit.ly/48QuHPw