According to the votes of the West High staff, Mrs. Sherry Skeen has shown great qualities to be the 2024-25 teacher of the year. This competition is not over as her win continues onto the district level to be up against East High’s teacher of the year. Skeen is extremely involved in the community. She is a health occupations CTE teacher who sponsors HOSA and the Blood Drive. While taking all of this on, Skeen also teaches night classes at Walter State.
Skeen has followed this pattern of involvement for a while now. She has been affiliated with HOSA here at West for six years but 11 years overall. Skeen feels strongly about the positive impacts on students when participating in HOSA, CTE, and the blood drive. She expresses, “HOSA brings students together as leaders showing each individual person how they can be a leader. It brings students together as a network of acquaintances and friends. Going to conferences, competitions at both the state and international level helps students develop a more sense of being, able to meet other cultural backgrounds and the development of lifetime friends and networking. Being part of CTE helps bring exposure to CTSO such as HOSA, Community Awareness, Healthcare issues and Healthcare needs including the need for certifications and job market. The blood drive not only helps with saving lives, it helps as a fundraiser and it helps students feel they are doing something to help others and the community.”
Skeen decided to teach in 2006. She explains, “I actually started teaching CNA classes in a LTC facility. The facility was in need of help and the facility sent me to Nashville to get my certification to teach. I continued to do this throughout the years even when I started working in a school setting. In 2014 I was interviewed to teach Nurse Education, CNA class. I did not realize what I had signed up for but 11 years later I am still teaching in the school setting. I always say I have the best of both worlds. I teach the career I love, Nursing.” Watching students evolve from not being knowledgeable on the subject to mastering it and getting a certification is what inspired Skeen to teach these fields. Skeen’s past experience with the significance of donating blood is what fueled her to get involved in the blood drive. She states, “I am passionate about being able to donate blood. When I was in RN school about to graduate I received a call that my daddy was really sick and he was in the ER. His diagnosis was CHF and he was needing open heart surgery. He was going to require blood so several of my cousins, my husband and myself went to the medic to give blood for him. I had my daddy’s blood type as well as one of my cousins. Unfortunately I was not able to give because I had surgery within that year prior plus I had other medical issues that would further prevent me from giving. My cousin was able to give. That was in 2009. In 2021 the most precious human being, my brother, got sick with pancreatitis. He fought for 4 months but in the end he lost his fight. During this time he had many blood transfusions and I thought this was going to be the time his blood would stay where it needed to be. I lost 2 great men in my life and if it weren’t for the medic and the blood drive that they provide I would have lost them sooner.”
Skeen has found the environment of Walter State and West High to be similar, but WSCC night classes tend to go for four to five hours instead of an hour and 20 minutes. With a lot of experience in teaching night classes, she has learned that seeing a student finish and get the certification they deserve makes it all worth it. Balancing teaching night classes and day classes seems demanding, but Skeen comments, “When teaching night classes it was only two nights a week therefore it was not bad I just had to keep good time management.” The best part of teaching night classes for her is to meet new students as well as listening to each of their trials and tribulations. The students are Skeen’s favorite part of teaching night classes. She has realized that along with her teaching them, she also learns a lot from her students everyday.
Skeen enjoys Student involvement and seeing a student that is shy sitting by themselves to be part of a group being a leader the most when it comes to HOSA. Applying to HOSA has many perks. Skeen states it is possible to “develop effective leadership qualities and skills. Build self-confidence, motivation and enthusiasm. Strengthen their academic and technical skills. Create friendships and social networks. Participate in community service activities. Set realistic career and educational goals. Expand communication and teamwork skills. Develop workplace readiness skills. Understand current healthcare issues. Celebrate competitive events program accomplishments. Apply for HOSA scholarships and recognitions. Travel to regional, state, and national conferences. Serve as local, regional, state, and national officers. Build their resume. Collaborate with health professionals and future employers. Seek internships in the office of the Surgeon General and others." HOSA involves various core values. She explains, “HOSAs core values are to Learn, Lead, Serve,& Innovate.
HOSA members are committed to becoming knowledgeable, skilled, and respected health professionals. They value learning from their teachers, peers, and patients. HOSA members are role models in their academic programs, communities, and professions. They are ethical, accountable, and trustworthy. HOSA members are dedicated to serving others with compassion. They believe in treating everyone with respect and care. HOSA members are dedicated to enriching the lives of others. They continuously seek knowledge and skills to address challenges and improve the health professions.” To get ready for HOSA, Skeen has provided what typical preparation looks like. She notes, “Preparing for HOSA is never ending. It seems to be year round. You go from New membership drive to fall leadership to regional competition to state leadership conference to international conferences then the circle starts again. In between you fit in all the fun and exciting stuff like community service projects, Christmas Parties at the nursing home, Fundraising like Blood drives twice a year, We Help Two fundraising and Be the Match. Of course no one does it alone. HOST has a wonderful executive staff and advising staff. Another way that we prepare is that HOSA is a student led organization that promotes health industry career opportunities. HOSA is closely aligned with health science education programs and is an instructional tool that works best when integrated into the classroom.” HOSA meets each month on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday. The State Leadership Conference will be last week in March and the international Leadership Conference will be in June.