Four Lenox Memorial Middle High School Students Graduate from Certified Nursing Assistant Program

LENOX — Principal Jeremiah Ames is delighted to share that four Lenox Memorial Middle High School students recently graduated from the school’s Certified Nursing Assistant program, held in partnership with the MassHire Berkshire Career Center.

Juniors Hannah Hart and Mia Pigot and seniors Marlene Valero and Amber Arseneau completed the CNA program on Feb. 3.

The CNA program is offered to students as part of Lenox’s Health Care Pathway, which is designed to provide technical and advanced coursework paired with work-based learning experiences, equipping students with credentials or certifications for immediate and sustainable employment or continued education. 

This is the second year LMMHS has run the CNA program. Students undergo four weeks of in-person training held by the school’s partners at Berkshire Health Systems and Berkshire Community College. Students attend training from 4-9 p.m., Monday-Friday at Berkshire Community College and participate in one Saturday lab.

Graduates may sit for the Certified Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aide exam, empowering them to either directly enter the workforce upon graduation or apply to the pipeline program, which supports employment while providing a paid practical nurse licensure program.

For one of last year’s graduates, Owen O’Brien-Harvey, Lenox’s CNA and pipeline programs allowed him to further his career while pursuing higher education free of cost. 

“After applying to the CNA program, I realized very quickly that this was something I wanted to pursue further. After passing the CNA exam, I met with Integritus Healthcare at an LMMHS career fair, who not only offered me a full-time job as a CNA but also agreed to provide me with a scholarship to further my education and career in nursing,” O’Brien-Harvey shared. “This program has made such a strong impact on my life and where I now see it headed. Ms. Romeo and Ms. Murray went above and beyond to help me access all available resources, and it was nice to know that there was such strong support. This opened up a pathway to college that I wasn’t previously exploring, and I am thankful for that.”

This current CNA class was paid for exclusively by the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund Appropriations and American Rescue Plan Act through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The class was administered locally through the MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board in collaboration with the MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Health Systems, Integritus Healthcare, and Berkshire Community College.

“This program could not be possible without our longstanding community partners at MassHire Berkshires. They have been an invaluable resource and frankly the bedrock of all our career education programming in the last decade that I have been at LMMHS,” said School Counselor Tara Romeo, who worked with Counselor Pam Murray to start the Innovation Career Pathways in Lenox three years ago. “We are thrilled to be contributing to the community with workforce development in sectors looking for qualified employees.”

LMMHS hopes to offer the CNA program to students during the summer.