MONALISA FREEMAN-ICTC
Committed and compassionate are two words that instructor Shannon Gilbert uses to describe Monalisa Freeman, a junior at Stilwell High School and a student in Gilbert’s Health Career Certification program at the Indian Capital Technology Center.
“Monalisa is 100 percent committed to anything she decides to take on,” said Gilbert. “She’s very kind and compassionate like when we had fifth graders visit us at Halloween and she was wonderful with them.”
The Health Career Certification program at ICTC is a one-year course designed primarily for juniors that introduces students to the many choices in health care careers.
“It’s not just about nursing but covers many aspects of the health care profession,” said Gilbert. “The students earn a weighted science credit for anatomy and physiology, a CNA certification for long term and home health care and an advantage if they apply for additional health care professions. Their senior year they can apply to our transition program which allows them to go to LPN school.”
So what brought Monalisa to this particular course?
“I wanted to do something with my life that would benefit others and when I saw this course I thought it would be a good step towards becoming a nurse. It’s not a hard course if you really enjoy it. I find it fascinating and it will help set me up for the future.”
In addition to her high school studies and ICTC, Monalisa is also on the Stilwell wrestling team.
“I started wrestling last year and didn’t win a lot of matches, but I was named Newcomer of the Year and so I dropped softball and power lifting to concentrate on wrestling and this year I’m 24-5 and have won a couple of tournaments.”
Like wrestling, Monalisa is all in when it comes to her ICTC experience.
“This isn’t like a hard-core school class where you learn stuff you’ll never use. I’m learning skills that I can use later in life and that makes it more enjoyable because it’s skills I want to learn, not that I have to learn. I would advise other high school students to consider a course at ICTC because it’s fun and you’ll probably find a course you’re really interested in. I think it’s really cool.”
Monalisa plans to continue on her path to becoming a nurse next year and eventually go to medical school.
