FARMER'S KORNER - A group of students approached a table in the middle of the bustling Summit High School cafeteria where Dr. Brian Maurer stood, an array of diagrams laid out in front of him.

"They want to talk to the foot guy," their teacher said, as the students picked up pamphlets and examined the bone and tendon structure of the lower appendages.

"Well I'm the foot guy," Maurer replied and began answering questions.

Dr. Maurer, of Schneider-Maurer Foot and Ankle Associates of Frisco, was one of many local health care professionals representing a number of fields at Summit High's health-focused career fair Wednesday morning.

The event celebrated the upcoming spring addition of the Med Prep program to the school's list of Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings, as department teachers passed out fliers about the program and directed students to the correct tables.

Dr. Maurer was pleased that CTE director Laura Dickinson called him three weeks ago and asked if he'd be interested in participating in the fair.

"I think it's important for the students here to understand what's available to them out there as far as health career opportunities," he said. "It's a way to promote health careers to the kids."

As health and science classes from around the building filed in one after another, Dickinson had to make more copies of the worksheets being handed out to encourage participation, which, if completed, entered the kids in drawings for gift certificates.

Alex Shackleton, a senior at SHS, spent much of his time at an athletic training table discussing injuries with the trainer there. He said if the Med Prep program had been available to him early in his high school career he would have enrolled.

"It would have gotten me interested earlier," he said. "I was only interested this year pretty much."

Shackleton, a football player, said a career in athletic training interests him and added that, given the strong turnout, many students appeared to feel the same about other fields.

"From what I've heard, there's a lot of people that think they'd like to have some kind of career in this profession," he said.

Freshmen Molly Allen, Heidi Fassal and Kelly Cochran attended the fair with Patricia Foote's health class. Cochran said she thought the table where firefighters discussed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) tactics was interesting.

Though she has at least a year to decide - students can only take the laboratory portion of the course for the first time as juniors - Cochran said she might enter the program.

Dickinson said the goal of the career fair was to make students consider their options. Med Prep director Nona Lynch, a longtime local nurse, added that many students expressed surprise in their own level of interest.

"I didn't think I was interested in a medical career," they told her, "but there are so many more fields than I realized."

Dickinson was equally pleased.

"Some of the kids that are truly interested in health careers are getting a really neat opportunity," she said. "Some of them had no idea that there were foot specialists or some of the career paths that are here. Getting them thinking about their careers - that's the really good thing."

Dickinson said the number of students that have signed up for the introduction to health occupations and medical terminology course in the spring is solid, but she hopes enrollment will rise by the time registration ends in January.

After the introductory class, the program's second phase includes a lab to give the students hands-on experience. Completing the one-year course will provide students with a multi-skilled health care worker certificate and eligibility to take the Certified Nurse Exam.

To be admitted into the program, students must submit a 500-word essay with two teacher recommendations. Grade point average is also considered.



Mike Morris can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 13628, or at mmorris@summitdaily.com.