Nassau County School System
Press Release
Submitted by Brent Lemond
Director of Career and Adult Education
May 25, 2017 6:02 p.m.
What impact does a teacher make? We’ve all heard stories of students whose lives were turned around by a teacher that went the extra mile. Sometimes it was the individual attention given to a kid that just needed to be noticed. Sometimes the teacher was the first person to demand excellence in a student’s life. Or, perhaps the impact came from a special lesson that was so timely and effective that it etched a blueprint for success that paid dividends for years to come. In the case of Sharon Belcher, Fernandina Beach High School’s Nursing Assisting instructor over the past decade, any of these things could be said. Countless students have found a calling in life, a successful career, and a path to get there without the burden of student debt. Even students at other schools benefit from her work.
When Belcher took over the reins at FBHS in the Fall of 2007, the health sciences program functioned primarily for career exploration as opposed to true career preparation. While exploration remains a component, the experience today is so much more. According to Brent Lemond, Nassau County School District’s Career Education Director, when he joined the district a year earlier in 2006, the Nassau’s nursing programs were doing great things but students weren’t following through to get their CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) licenses. It didn’t take long for Belcher to change the mindset. “We really wanted students to leave the program eligible to work and the day I met Sharon, I knew we had our change agent,” said Lemond.
For Belcher, having her students earn the credential was just a piece of her vision. “I wanted them to come out of here with more than a CNA,” she explained. “This is a huge stepping stone for these students to find out if this is what they want to do. And, if it is what they want to do, this is where they get started. My goal was to bump up the standard for this class, and I think I have.”
The first step was offering to cover the students’ exam fees. Recalls Belcher, “We paid for it and had two people go to test. One passed, Ashley Spence. I remember she called me when she passed. She was so excited, she called me before she left the site.”
While this was a milestone for the program, there was no indication of what would come in the next couple years. “Ten years ago there was nothing to let us know what was even on the exam. They (students) had to drive all the way in to Jacksonville to test.” Students also weren’t eligible to test until after graduation.
Those obstacles would soon be overcome as Belcher worked with her peers, district staff, and various organizations to jump through all of the necessary hoops. The following year the district’s classroom labs became testing centers, eliminating the drive. A year later, the district’s programs became licensed training centers by the Florida Department of Health so that students could test prior to graduation and prior to age 18. In those two short years, student licensure became commonplace. The spring of 2010, every single graduate from Belcher’s program was a licensed CNA. That has been the case almost every year since.
There are countless student success stories. For example, there’s Chelsea Chesire (2009). She used her license to get a job at Osprey Village, one of the district’s top business partners. Osprey Village’s tuition reimbursement program paid for her to become a Registered Nurse in FSCJ’s program. She went on to earn her Bachelors of Science in Nursing at the University of North Florida and is currently a first lieutenant in the Air Force stationed in Alaska. Another is Carrington Fussell (2011). She was hired out of the program by Dr. Tom McGrath, a leading obstetrician in Nassau County. She also later took advantage of Osprey Village’s tuition reimbursement and earned an RN from FSCJ. She met her future husband while working clinical rotations at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and is now a full-time nurse at Orange Park Medical Center. A third example is Renée Pittman (2014) who worked at Baptist Hospital, another of the program’s business partners and moved on to the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery in Gainesville. Pittman worked her first birth earlier this month and came back to speak at the class of 2017’s pinning ceremony.
Reflecting on her students over the years, you can see the pride in Belcher’s eyes as she recalls their accomplishments. “Kids still text me to let me know they got into nursing school. They still reach out for letters of recommendation for scholarships,” she explained. “The best part is they call to tell me about the cool stuff they see.”
Belcher’s program is a model for career education, and her influence doesn’t stop at FBHS. A year after Belcher joined the district, former Yulee High School teacher Cheryl Wilkes was hired and the two shared best practices. Annette Hodges at Hilliard Middle/Senior mirrored their success in her Allied Health Assisting program, a different curriculum that splits the focus between patient care and administration. As new teachers Kathy Crosby and Angie Barnes have stepped in at YHS and West Nassau High School, there is always a team approach. Innovations and business partners are shared and all are doing great things.
Ten years ago, the district had good programs. Now it is a model. College CNA program have inquired about how Nassau County consistently achieves its high pass rates. If you ask Lemond, he’ll tell you that the turning point was the day a prominent nurse practitioner named Sharon Belcher decided to try her hand at high school teaching. Said Lemond, “She has certainly left her mark – on her students, on her peers, and on the entire district. She has created a model that should benefit students for many years after she leaves.”
Belcher is retiring this summer. As this article and her career approach an end, there’s one final testament to her character. For many people, there is a tendency to slow down in the final days on a job. “Short-timer’s disease” is in our lexicon for a reason. This cannot be said of Belcher. She has created a succession plan and intends to spend some time in August helping onboard a new teacher. Wouldn’t you know it, every single one of her students in 2017 is leaving with a Florida license, employment opportunities, and a path to additional education and progressive advancement in a high-demand field. Of course Sharon Belcher finished with a show of strength!
Editor’s Note: When I began taking photos of the Senior High Awards Ceremony at Fernandina Beach High School, I noticed the high school nursing students were the happiest group of young people! I knew there was one great teacher who was responsible for the smiles on the graduates faces. Thank you Sharon for your devotion to our young people. Best wishes for a happy retirement.