By Lori BODNAR, intern

Those interested in the fields of science and medicine are invited to attend the Crescenta Valley High School Academy of Science and Medicine Health Career Night on Friday, Feb. 26. The Health Career Night (HCN) will be hosted virtually on Zoom with Academy of Science and Medicine advisor Orenda Tuason assisted by Vero Coba and Alamelu Arunachalam. The presenters include physicians, registered nurses, pharmacists, professors, directors, alumni and many other health care professionals. Some of the presenters are professionals from Adventist Health Glendale and nursing students from Glendale Community College. 

HCN will be presented in a way similar to previous years (see CV Weekly, March 5, 2020 for the report of last year’s event) with one major change: this year’s HCN will have a virtual format necessitated by pandemic restrictions.

Eric Markarian, the junior co-president of the Academy of Science and Medicine at the high school, said, “Health Career Night will be a Zoom meeting where [participants] will be in breakout rooms with presenters rotating through the breakout rooms based on the schedule. The way we designed this virtual event is similar to how we would do it in person, with students being put into breakout rooms instead of classrooms and presenters switching through these breakout rooms as they did with the classrooms.”

Meghan Parada, junior co-president of the Academy, added, “The presenters will be rotating breakout rooms after 30-minute intervals, as in previous years, to speak to different groups of Academy members. Each breakout room will hear from four different presenters to learn about unique topics in health, science and medicine throughout the event.”

This year, there are 54 Academy of Science and Medicine officers, although usually there are around 25 officers. Freshman students are not a part of the Academy, although they can be honorary members if they are enrolled in medical biology class.

The Academy of Science and Medicine has held many events and activities virtually this year to maintain the same social atmosphere as in previous years.

“We continue to hold lunch presentations every Friday with medical professionals presenting for our members, the most recent one being last Friday with the vice president of the American Heart Association for Heart Health month,” said Markarian. “We also have virtual field trips every month along with fundraisers. I’m happy to say we maintained the ‘big three’ events that Academy members are required to go to, one of which is Health Career Night, and the other two the virtual orientation picnic and the banquet at the end of the year.”

Parada said Academy students have continued with merchandise and dine-out fundraisers, virtual field trips, movies, socials and weekly lunch presentations.

The Academy of Science and Medicine is a career pathway program for CVHS students interested in the fields of medicine, health care, or science. The Academy provides outside curriculum for students to expand their horizons. Around 300 students in grades 10-12 at CVHS are part of the Academy of Science and Medicine.

“My favorite part is being surrounded by people who have similar interests as me and being able to explore my interests in the medical field through the various opportunities the Academy provides,” said Markarian. “Being put into classes with fellow Academy members and seeing them at Academy events have definitely been an invaluable experience because it’s formed a group of people that I’ve become very close friends with.”

Parada added that the outstanding community is a plus for her.

“The Academy has grown into a family and it has been so much fun meeting incredible people who all have similar passions and strive for excellence,” she said. “Members, our officers, the Academy teachers, and our amazing supervisors, Orenda Tuason, Vero Coba, and Alamelu Arunachalam, have worked so hard to build the beautiful Academy family. I love being involved to help introduce others to possible future careers, but also new friends. I’ve personally met some of my best friends through the Academy and am extremely grateful for this.”

Academy field trips include a trip to the Science Center last year.

“It was really fun exploring the Science Center with all my friends and getting to watch Apollo at the theater,” said Markarian.

Markarian plans to major in neuroscience or neurobiology in college. Parada plans to major in biomedical computations with a minor in public health.