by Sarah Mummert, Student Public Relations Writer
After a recent grant from Walgreens to Cedarville University’s School of Pharmacy, Cedarville’s health care programs are making a difference in the local community by providing opportunities for high school students to get insight into the health professions.
On Friday, Sept. 8, four Cedarville students from the nursing, pharmacy and athletic training programs volunteered to teach high school students about the health professions at the Dayton Early College Academy (DECA). This was Cedarville’s first health care event with DECA. 
In a span of three hours, the Cedarville students manned eight stations designed to give the high schoolers hands-on experience with different aspects of the health care professions. Some activities included CPR, “stop the bleed,” an athletic training relay race and the “pharmacy Olympics,” all of which allowed students to practice what they were learning.
Founded in 2003, the DECA high school program helps students excel in their studies to prepare them to become college graduates and community leaders. David Taylor, the superintendent and CEO of DECA, graduated from Cedarville in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in middle childhood education and again in 2008 with a master’s degree in education.
After a proposal written by Dr. Aleda Chen, associate dean of the school of pharmacy, the school of pharmacy received the Walgreens Diversity Donation Award. Both the school of pharmacy and the school of education and social work have collaborated to best implement outreach. Dr. Kevin Jones, dean of the school of education and social work, connected Chen with DECA.
“This grant is specifically for more diverse students to see health professions as a career because statistically, the health professions are not as diverse as our patient population,” said Chen. “The goal is for any profession to look like the people we serve. God created us all in very many different ways, and we want our professions to look like that too, making sure all students recognize they can excel in health professions.”
Having Cedarville students work with high schoolers in the community is a valuable partnership.
“The college students aren’t that far apart in terms of education and experience from the high schoolers,” said Chen. “And with the Cedarville students are actually living the life of a college student in a profession, they are able to bring a great perspective back to the high school students about what it will take to get there.”
Though this was the first event where Cedarville partnered with DECA, the partnership is intended to be frequent and ongoing. On Thursday, Sept. 21, a group of eight DECA students took a field trip to Cedarville University, interacting with the schools of education and social work, pharmacy and nursing, along with the physician assistant (PA) and Master of Athletic Training programs.
Cedarville University is becoming a health care education destination for many of these students, and one of the goals of the health professions taught at Cedarville is to recruit a diverse group of healthcare-minded students.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 5,456 undergraduate, graduate, and dual-enrolled high school students in more than 175 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Master of Athletic Training (M.A.T.), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.), and Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.), high graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and the #4 national ranking by the Wall Street Journal for student engagement. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.