Building a Bridge to Behavioral Health Careers

The Coachella Valley has a critical shortage of behavioral health professionals to serve the needs of our community. To address this need, local behavioral health partners came together as OneFuture Coachella Valley’s Behavioral Health Workforce Team (BH A-Team) in 2016 with the vision that the Coachella Valley will have an abundant supply of mental and… Read more »

mentoring the future

One Vital at a Time

Capturing vital signs is a critical skill learned and practiced at the Palm Desert High School Health Academy to prepare students for their future careers. Health professionals must understand what vital signs are, what the monitoring procedures include and how to perform each in a proper manner. Vital signs allow physicians and nurses to check… Read more »

What HEAL Offered Me

The HEAL academy (Health and Environmental Academy of Learning) is not the average high school academy. By giving students opportunities and experiences to work in their community, the academy helps students like me prepare for a career either in health care or in the environmental health field.  I have been in the HEAL academy for… Read more »

mentoring the future

The Pressure of Competition

Over the past year, parents of the wealthy and privileged have been exposed for cheating the college admissions system. These individuals have personified the levels of desperation to which some parents descend in order to get their child into their school of choice. Stresses of college admissions and even competition among high school students contribute… Read more »

mentoring the future

Our Mind Still Matters

Is there a mental health crisis developing in America, or just a popular topic in the media? National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) 2017 statistics document a nearly 13% rate of depression affliction in teenagers, and nearly 7% in adults; hardly an epidemic, but concerning, nonetheless. Every day, we all are faced with issues that… Read more »

Prepared for the Future

Palm Desert High School has four career pathways now, one of which is the Health Academy. The academy has been at Palm Desert High since 2010 and is coordinated by teacher Mr. Ron Paiz. The Health Academy has given many students an advantage over others considering health careers by teaching medical terminology, basic medical skills,… Read more »

Disaster Prepared

Cathedral City High School held its annual disaster drill on Thursday, October 20. The disaster drill is a simulated emergency response drill that instructs students and faculty alike in California on how to properly respond to an enormous earthquake if and when it happens. The San Andreas Fault, located in California, is long overdue for… Read more »

Opportunity of a Lifetime

The Palm Desert High School Health Careers Academy junior class participated in a job shadow day on March 16. Three vans transported 43 students to 20 medical-related locations including JFK Memorial Hospital, Eisenhower Medical Center, medical clinics, dental offices, senior centers, JW Marriot Desert Springs Resort & Spa, and even animal care facilities. The students… Read more »

Keeping Students, Faculty and Families Fit

Palm Springs’ Cielo Vista Charter School has opened a new community fitness center, thanks to a well-deserved $70,000 grant from the Desert Healthcare District (DHCD). In 2010, the school created a wellness program that went beyond traditional PE classes to teach students about healthy eating and lifestyles. The goal of the three-year grant-funded program called… Read more »