Virginia Health Services celebrated the graduation of eight apprenticeship program students on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at the Employment, Enrichment and Education (EEE) Center in Newport News.

The earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship program graduates Care Assistants to Nurse Aides and covers the cost of the certification exam to be a CNA. The Peninsula program is instructed by Nora Gillespie, RN, and Director of Education Princess Henderson, BSN, RN. The six-week course includes classroom instruction, clinical skills labs and on-the-floor experience.

The eight graduates will remain with VHS as team members at York, Northampton and Coliseum Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers.

Princess and Nora led the ceremony and described the class as caring, compassionate, dedicated, intelligent, driven, hard-working and knowledgeable. The students approached resident care with their heart in it. They were joined by friends and family to celebrate during a reception following the ceremony.

The graduates

For the first time, there were co-valedictorians in a graduating class — Naudia Jenkins and Charisse Stinnie. They both had the highest GPAs and perfect attendance.

Naudia also is enrolled in nursing school full time in the evenings, with an expected graduation date of June 2025. Charisse transferred to the apprenticeship program from a role at Coliseum.

Salutatorian Karlethia Watkins is a recent high school graduate. She will attend Old Dominion University in the fall on a full scholarship, and says she would like to do research for neurological degenerative disease and develop medications to assist or potentially cure these diseases. Karlethia enrolled in the program to better understand the population she intends to help.

Graduates also included internal transfer Veronica McCray, who worked in the laundry department at James River Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; Champion Award recipient Shakayla Johnson-Wright; Georgianna Perkins; Kanasia Robinson; and Sari Santella, who is a military spouse in pursuit of a career with transferable skills.

VHS apprenticeship program

The next Peninsula apprenticeship class is slated for Aug. 19-Sept. 26 (applications are closed) and the next Gloucester apprenticeship class is Aug. 5-Sept. 12. Applications will open about 30 days ahead of the final class dates of the year — Peninsula Oct. 14-Nov. 21 and Gloucester Oct. 21-Dec. 2 — at vahs.com/apprenticeship.