Ada, MI - CNA training at Forest Hills Central High school

The local pipeline for care of the elderly is seriously flawed, and has been worsening for decades..

Kudos to these students, Forest Hills, Ferris State, and the Center for Medical Training for taking hold where it counts!

NOTE: The term "medical certification" is erroneous. CNA stands for Certified Nurse Aide, as defined in Michigan law and registry.

Medicine has its own separate degree structure.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/kent-county/forest-hills-central-students-earn-medical-certification/

Forest Hills Central students earn medical certification

Teresa Weakley    |    Oct 9, 2026

ADA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — On a Friday afternoon at Forest Hills Central High School, students aren’t just reading about patient care. They’re practicing it.

Inside a classroom set up more like a healthcare lab than a typical high school course, students learn hands-on skills they’ll soon use in real healthcare settings.

Through a new partnership involving the Center for Medical Training and Ferris State University, students can earn college credit while working toward certification as a nursing assistant before they graduate.

“It’s like to practice it so that we can then perform it when we go and visit hospitals,” senior Maisey Pell said.

The program debuted at Forest Hills Central this school year. Students complete online coursework connected to Ferris State while spending Fridays in hands-on training sessions at their own school. There, they practice skills under the guidance of healthcare professionals before moving into clinical settings.

“We were doing skills checkoffs,” Ashley Bauer, founder and director of the Center for Medical Training, said. “Each week we learn a new skill. The students come in and then they will perform that skill.”

After completing those checkoffs, students head into nursing homes and healthcare facilities to work with actual patients under supervision.

“After they get done with their clinical check-offs, then we take them into a nursing home or a healthcare facility, where they then perform the skills on actual patients,” Bauer said.

The goal is for students to take Michigan’s nurse aide exam before the semester ends and become certified nursing assistants, or CNAs.

“Hopefully I’ll have the certification to be a nursing assistant at least. Then I can hopefully go into college with that and have the background to pursue nursing,” Pell said.

For her, the program offers something traditional classes can’t.

“We get to come and do some more hands-on learning,” Pell said. “With the professors, it’s lectures and stuff, which is very helpful. But this is a little bit more helpful because then we can actually do stuff.”

The program grew out of Bauer’s 20-year healthcare career. She started as a CNA herself, later becoming a licensed practical nurse and then a registered nurse.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she watched staffing shortages strain healthcare systems and began looking for ways to build a larger pipeline of future workers.

“I worked in healthcare for 20 years, and through COVID I was like, ‘Man, we really need help. How can we get more help?'” Bauer said. “How can we build more interest in this?”

The Center for Medical Training, based in Grandville, provides state-certified nurse aide training focused on hands-on learning and career preparation. Now entering its third year, the organization works with multiple school districts and customizes programs to meet each school’s needs.

“This was the first year that we stepped out of our own classroom and stepped into somebody else’s building. It’s been so much fun,” Bauer said.

The model appears to be working. During a recent tour of a local healthcare facility, Bauer’s students were greeted by two graduates of the program who are already working in the field.

“It was awesome to see two of our previous students meet us at the door,” she said. “To see them be successful too.”

The experience also gives students a chance to test-drive a career before investing years and thousands of dollars in college.

“This is also experience to see if we really want to go into nursing. I think it’s totally helpful since we’re still in high school,” Pell explained.

For students who discover healthcare isn’t the right fit, Bauer considers that a success too.

“Some students recognize through this, like, ‘Maybe healthcare is not my thing,'” she said.

As for Pell, she’s still committed to nursing, even if she’s a little nervous about the next step.

“I would say I’m a little nervous to go and do it on an actual resident and perform the skills,” she said. “But with all the training and practice that we have here, hopefully I’ll be able to do that and be successful.”

Bauer hopes more schools will eventually join the program.

“We would love to see this expand to several different schools. We’re really getting these students ready,” she said.