Imagine starting your career at 16 years old. Most people that age don’t know what their future will look like in five or 10 years. Some, however, have it all mapped out.

A new program at Kentlake High School is tapping into that readiness by allowing students, ages 16 and older, to take a Certified Nursing Assistant class.

The 2.5 month course is something normally taught in college.

Rajwinder Kaur, nursing assistant instructor at Renton Technical College, is teaching the course.

“I see a lot of (young) people working as CNAs,” she said. “This is a good way to kind of start and to see if this is the kind of field they want to be in.”

The course is taught after school. The students still have their normal high school classes, or college classes if they are doing running start, on top of their CNA coursework.

Dakota Watchie, 17, a senior at Kentlake says his workload is heavy but still worth it.

“It’s been challenging but it’s enjoyable,” he said.

Watchie is not only enrolled in the CNA program, but he also takes college classes at Green River Community College through the high school’s running start program. By the time he graduates in June, he will have his first year of his associate’s degree plus his CNA completed.

Watchie hopes to go to nursing school at the University of Washington, but is nervous about qualifying.

“The UW would be ideal,” Watchie said. “(But) they have a really high standard.”

Watchie didn’t know what he wanted to do after high school until he was introduced to this new program.

“Now it’s pretty clear,” he said. “I wanted a job where I could help people and feel good about what I do.”

Watchie plans on taking his state exam as soon as possible and working as a CNA whenever the first opportunity arrises.

Another senior in the program, Giovanna Staiano, shares the same drive and motivation that her classmate does. She said the program solidified her ambition to be in the healthcare industry.

“The hands on experience has shown me this is what I want to do,” she said.

Unlike Watchie, however, Staiano wants to stray away from nursing and become an ultrasound technician. She said she’s leaning toward Bellevue College as her first choice after high school.

After completion of the course, the students must take the state exam, which includes a written portion and a skills test. If they pass, they will be able to go out and get a job as a CNA, even while they are still in high school.

Kaur said the response to the program has been great and many of the students already have plans on furthering their medical education.

“A lot of the students are interested in being registered nurses,” she said. “Two students want to be doctors.”

But for Kaur, a California transplant, her journey in the medical field started a little bit later in her life. She became a CNA at 23. Now, she teaches the CNA program at both Kentlake and Renton Technical College and works on call as a licensed practical nurse. The program at Renton Technical College is a hybrid course, where students learn predominately online but have in-class time as well.

She said her experience working with patients in real-world situations is critical to engaging her students.

“What really fascinates students and engages them is telling them stories about your experiences with your patients,” she said.

As part of the program, the students also get face time with real patients. State law requires that all students that go through a CNA course have at least 40 hours of experience working with residents or patients before taking the state exam.

Kaur’s students do six, eight-hour shifts at nursing homes in the area.

In addition to this practical learning, they also have a lab set up at Kentlake High School where they can practice their skills on mannequins or sometimes each other, Kaur said.

When the school was built, said Principal Joe Potts, the CNA program was in mind. When the school first opened, the first CNA program began, but it went on hiatus for several years because they didn’t have anyone to teach it.

This time around, not only is the program a partnership with Renton Technical College, it’s also a partnership with MultiCare Health System.

Potts said MultiCare donated some of the equipment, including the hospital beds, that are in the lab at Kentlake.

He also said the school will be offering the program again next semester. They currently have a group of 18 students but hope to get 20 by the time the class starts. Potts said they will open it up to any Kentwood students interested as well.

Russ Hanscom, who is on the Kent School Board, is also a registered nurse. He offered a few words of advice for the 13 students who graduated from the program last week.

“Healthcare will always be a job opportunity for you,” Hanscom said. “I promise you, if you end up as a nurse or you end up as a physician…you’ll be incredibly rewarded for the rest of your life.”

Watchie, Staiano and 11 other students graduated from the program on Tuesday, Dec. 16. With their certificate of completion in hand, they are one step closer to their goals and a probably few steps ahead of their peers.