Science careers class hosts annual blood drive Oct. 31

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

The LifeServe blood drive is coming back to Charles City High School on Oct. 31, thanks to a class dedicated to helping students explore science careers.

Thirteen students are organizing this year’s fall drive with minimal assistance from instructor Donna Forsyth. The blood drive will be held at the high school gym from 7:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Community members should reserve a slot by contacting the high school at 641-257-8930.

The event has 173 appointment slots available, junior Olivia Wolfe said, and is aiming to have 104 completed donations at the end of the day.

“A lot of us are interested in health care occupations. … This is our blood drive, so it’s pretty much all on us to get everything that needs to be done, done,” Wolfe said.

The students have worked to help friends or family members check to see if they are eligible to donate blood, and have to address concerns from potential donors who have never donated at a blood drive.

“A lot of people are scared, so it’s hard to get people to sign up,” senior Branycia Mitchell said. “They fear needles or blood, or they’ve had a bad experience with needles.”

The LifeServe Blood Drive is only part of what students organize as part of Forsyth’s course. Her class has job-shadowed veterinarians, dentists, laboratory technicians and other professionals outside of the school day, and most students have more job shadow opportunities lined up for the rest of the semester.

“They have to be pretty passionate about what they’re doing, because the expectation is that they take care of that outside the school day,” Forsyth said. “Some of them have been at their (shadowing) at 6 a.m. and spent the entire day there. That’s pretty cool.”

Mitchell got to visit a microbiology lab and view cultures of strep or urinary tract infections. Senior Valerie Allison visited a cardiovascular technician who didn’t have any appointments scheduled, but he showed her the standard procedures people would receive.

“He showed me how to check blood pressure in your toe, and he showed me the veins and arteries in my veins and on top of my foot,” Allison said.

Forsyth’s class has taken group trips to places like the Floyd County Medical Center.

At the end of the semester students are expected to put a trifold presentation together and state what their career pathway goals are, and what classes or training they need to accomplish those goals — including calculating their total cost of higher education.

“I was kind of in-between two jobs, so this class gives me the opportunity to shadow those jobs and see which one I enjoy more,” senior Sadie Ruzicka said. “It really helps you with setting up what you want to do in college, the classes that you take, how you get into college.”

“I was interested in the medical field, and I’m unsure of what I want for a job,” senior Johnathan Olerich said. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to take a look at the medical field and see what I could get out of this class.”

“We talk about passion a lot. I think that’s so important,” Forsyth said. “It’s not just going out and showing up for a couple hours. It’s a lot more than that.”

Even for students who don’t have a specific career pathway in mind, junior Whitney Martin said it’s helpful to identify what she’s not interested in pursuing.

“I just knew that I wanted to do the medical field,” Martin said. “The shadows that I’ve done, I know, I want to stay away from that, I’m less interested in that than I thought.”

The class and job shadow requirements has pushed senior Madeline Peters outside her comfort zone, she said.

“It was really nice just knowing … and appreciating what they do,” Peters said. “I’m glad there’s people who do those things, even if I don’t want to.”

The classwork is much about teaching students to take their own initiative when they explore careers, Forsyth said.

“I just provide the opportunities, but whether or not they follow up and take advantage of these opportunities is totally them, and they’re doing an amazing job,” Forsyth added.