Students in Stefanie Virgen’s Introduction to Veterinary Medicine class at Washington Middle School earned their Honorary Junior Doctor of Veterinary Medicine on Friday morning, Oct. 12.
A short ceremony was held with parents and family members on hand.
This is for eighth-grade Career Explo students who applied and were accepted. It was intended to give the students recognition of exemplary focus on real-world career and college skills.
Included in this honor is a badge and Virgen’s own letter of recommendation that these students - the ones who meet and exceed the standards required for growth, critical thinking, hands-on career skills, and career-based soft skills - be considered strong candidates to succeed in high school pathways-oriented classes.
This award is an acknowledgement of the kind of perseverance and grit necessary to succeed in future careers as well as high school and college classes.
“My thought was that acknowledging this would encourage the students toward future success as well as motivate these kiddos to continue to push further - beyond mere grades and into the realm of growth and possibility,” Virgen said.
“This connects the Middle School pathways program and the High School pathways program more directly while providing the eighth graders with some forward-thinking motivation as they head over to WHS. Pathways is a huge district initiative, and both the WMS and WHS Principals (Ron Millheiser and Dr. Kelle McCallum) were supportive of my idea. I also met with part of the WHS pathways teaching team to ensure continuity between our programs.”
Students recognized were Loren Thurmon, Abby Sloan, Lacey Bieker, Lily Grant, Paytin Welsh, Weston Meyer, Peyton Dunn, Mya Wardwell, Emma Wheeler, Jyllian Jensen, Emma Briggs, Kaitlyn Milligan, Madison Broughton, Ryan Weidle, Dayton Hanneken, Claire Glastetter, Syd Struckhoff, Nora Danz, Camron Poe, Nina Zimmermann and Belle Zanin.
See the pictures of the students recognized below.
