eDynamic Learning’s Digital Curriculum Educator of the Year Winner
Martin
eDynamic Learning’s Digital Curriculum Educator of the Year Winner
CTE Health Sciences and HS Life Sciences
Bethel Virtual Academy
Bethel School District Spanaway, Washington
Michele Martin is using the wealth of real-world experience from her fascinating and varied career to open students’ eyes to the broad range of opportunities in the healthcare field
Opening the Door to Healthcare Careers in a Virtual Classroom with Digital Curriculum
Michele Martin is using the wealth of real-world experience from her fascinating and varied career to open students’ eyes to the broad range of opportunities in the healthcare field. Her path to becoming a CTE Health Sciences Teacher at Bethel Virtual Academy (BVA) saw her in roles ranging from endocrinology lab technician to marine mammal trainer with the US Navy.
She began her teaching career as the Science Department Curriculum Lead at Bethel Middle School (BMS). One of four teachers selected to pilot the use of iPads in class, she went on to assist with school-wide iPad integration. Simultaneously, she pursued additional credentials and received her Career and Technical Education (CTE) Endorsement from Bates Technical College in 2018.
In 2020, she became a founding member at Bethel Virtual Academy (BVA), teaching high school life sciences and CTE Health Sciences.
“Even though the world was in turmoil due to the COVID pandemic, I was determined to help make our brand-new virtual school a success. As the CTE Curriculum Lead for BVA, my hope was to develop our CTE program and give students academic choices that matched their college and career goals.
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- Michele Martin
Preparing students for In-Demand Careers
Middle and high school educators play a critical role in preparing students for life after graduation. In Martin’s experience, when students envision jobs in healthcare they often think “doctor” or “nurse.” Many are unaware of positions like respiratory therapist, EKG technician, x-ray technician, and medical assistant, which are just a few of the highly in-demand occupations that are expected to experience explosive growth in the next decade.
To support educators like Martin, eDynamic Learning has outlined various career tracks by cluster, offering a roadmap to visualize courses that can guide
them to their dream careers. This saves time, effort and money by ruling out fields that don’t excite students and enlightening them to the avenues that match their skills and interests, all in a risk-free environment.
Martin understands that when students are interested, they’re more motivated, and when they’re more motivated, they’re more engaged. After two years of using a passive, “sit and get” curriculum resource for their CTE courses, she and her team decided that they needed a way to pique student interest more effectively. After researching and vetting a variety of resources, she decided that eDynamic Learning curriculum was the best option for her CTE students at BVA.
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They [BVA students] preferred eDynamic Learning curriculum, stating that the material was challenging yet easy to understand, well organized, and the examples of real-world healthcare careers or scenarios opened their eyes to so much more than our previous curriculum.
- Michele Martin
The ability to incorporate the curriculum into Canvas, their current LMS, has eased the strain on students, creating a studentfriendly, accessible, and equitable curriculum they can adjust for individual needs.
From Martin’s perspective, the greatest testament to the curriculum’s success is the number of students who now feel that a career in healthcare is within their reach. Many of her students are pursuing certifications in fields like medical assistant, physical therapist, and ultrasound technician, just to name a few.
As an educator, nothing could warm my heart more than knowing my teaching and the use of the eDynamic Learning health sciences curriculum has inspired our Bethel Virtual Academy students to pursue healthcare careers they thought were out of reach for them.
- Michele Martin
Connecting with the Community
To support engagement and student learning in a virtual school environment, Martin invites guest speakers from the community to share the experiences that influenced their decisions to begin a career in healthcare. This year they’ve been lucky to hear from a neurologist, dentist, ER doctor, biomedical engineers, surgical robot engineers, two nurses, and an orthopedic surgeon.
She also incorporates in-person, hands-on healthcare skill training sessions for her students, including First Aid, CPR, and AED certification classes in conjunction with the local community Skills Center. When asked for advice for schools that are interested in incorporating health sciences curriculum, she recommends always working with the community, and using eDynamic Learning resources.
I’ve been so impressed. Feedback from students is universally good. Love the layout. Love the organization. Even if something is a little more challenging, they like the lessons that make them think deeper. They know it’s hard, but they know they’re getting something out of it.
- Michele Martin
