May 9, 2024 by Ashley Wells
Today I spent the day at Hilliard Innovation Learning Center with the lead school nurse, Robin. Hilliard ILC is a part of Hilliard city school district and provides specialized care to students with special interests and needs. The ILC provides students with course work following specific career paths that they may be interested in after graduation such as hea
lthcare, business and film. They also provide students who struggle with following the standard curriculum a student success network to help them have the resources to graduate. Next door to the ILC is also the LEAD program which assists with children who may have behavioral issues related to trauma. On this campus kids can anywhere from elementary to high school.
While I was at the ILC, Robin educated me on the care team she oversees to assist with these programs. It consists of fourteen employees, multiple nurses, athletic trainers and social workers. Throughout the day we assisted kids with medications at lunch and worked on training man
uals for incoming nurses. I found it really interesting the training that goes into being a school nurse but also the extra requirements for one in this kind of setting.
I found the ILC to be really interesting in the way that they have developed a way to assist children with all different education goals. As someone who grew up in the Columbus area I wasn’t aware that any of the public schools besides Olentangy local schools offered alternative learning. I feel that this addresses sustainable goal number four, ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, specifically with the student success network (Department of Economic and Social affairs, n.d.). My overall take-away from this experience is that I am really liked the setting and would be really interested in working as a school nurse or NP in a school like Hilliard ILC.
References
Department of Economic and Social affairs. (n.d.). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda