17 Starr Students Pass State Exam, Now Certified

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 They spent 176 hours in labs, lecture and clinical rotation and now they are graduates. Seventeen South Texas College Starr County Campus students passed the state exam and are licensed to be certified nurse assistants.

“It was a lot of hard work and I wasn’t sure if I would make it, but my classmates and family served as my inspiration,” said Virginia Rivas, program graduate. “I look forward to a new career and continuing to learn to grow as a medical care professional.”

The students were enrolled in the college’s Starr County Campus Certified Nurse Assistant Program offered through its Continuing, Professional and Workforce Education Division. To be considered for the program, students must be high school graduates or have earned a GED and have kept up with immunizations, including the HEP series.

Through the course of their studies, students learn to achieve a level of knowledge, skills and abilities essential to provide basic care to residents of long-term care facilities. As an added benefit, students who successfully complete the program will earn points to be considered for acceptance into STC’s Licensed Vocational Nursing Program.

The training and education of 12 of the students in the cohort was funded through a grant from the South Texas Development Council. The next STC CNA Program cohort started its work in early December.

“We are very proud of the students for their dedication to their studies and thankful to the community partners who supported this training,” said Dolores Gomez, manager for STC’s Starr County Campus Continuing, Professional and Workforce Education Division. “Not only are these women moving forward in a promising new career, they have now gained confidence to know they are each college material. We hope this is just the first step in their continuing higher education.”

For more information about the program or other continuing education and workforce training opportunities available through STC’s Starr County Campus contact Gomez at 956-488-6973 or at dgomez@southtexascollege.edu.

Photo caption:
Recent graduates of STC’s Starr County Campus Certified Nurse Assistant Program from front row left are Edna Garcia, Iliana Cantu, Denise Hernandez and Dora Garcia; middle is Yaneth Perez; and back row left are Aracely Araujo, Olivia Carmona, Jamie Garza, Edna Reyna (instructor), Lucrecia Alanis, Virginia Rivas and Kimberly Moreno.