Bone white and wearing a jersey with a floral necklace draping, Chad is happier than ever to be full of school spirit, posing outside of health science teacher Staci Mikeska’s door. Mikeska loves dressing her skeleton Chad for the school spirit days, recently featuring a “pinked out” theme. Diving into all of the school spirit activities, ready to navigate through the bustling hallways, Mikeska is thrilled to be able to dress her skeleton Chad for the school spirit days.
After officially moving into Clements after working at the Reese Career and Technical Center, Mikeska said she finally understands how freshmen feel when first entering a new, unfamiliar environment. Mikeska is ready to grow the health science part of the CTE program and expand her students’ knowledge by teaching them the wonders of the healthcare field using hands-on activities and real-world scenarios. CTE, which stands for Career and Technical Education, prepares students for which pathway they plan on taking. This gives them a chance to explore different careers using the knowledge and tools provided in the CTE classes, giving them a chance to earn an industry-based certificate, enhancing their employability.
“What motivated me to move into teaching high school [was] being in the field and seeing the nurses and the medical assistants come out of school and actually start working in the real world,” Mikeska said. “There had been a big shift within the last few years with work ethic about taking the responsibility seriously and a lot of people getting into nursing thinking I can make a lot of money but not understanding the roles and responsibilities that come with that nursing and so I decided when the opportunity presented itself for me to work for Fort Bend that maybe I could make a change.”
“I’m super excited to be here because the program here at Clements is growing,” Mikeska said. “For example they only had one theory class last year [and] this year we have two. My goal for next year is to have three and so to be a part of a program that is going to continue to grow and excel here at Clements.”
When Mikeska first entered college, her initial career path was criminal justice, volunteering at a local fire department and being a photographer for them. Once Mikeska transitioned to being a dispatcher, she received an offer to become an emergency medicine technician, so she moved to a school dedicated to the pathway. Because Mikeska enjoys helping and comforting others, she knew that this was what she wanted to do, growing a passion for medicine.
“You can see anything and everything,” Mikeska said. “So I’ve delivered a baby, more than one, but my most memorable one delivery was I was actually nine months pregnant as well and so I delivered a baby on the going down [Interstate 10 in] the ambulance.”
What made Mikeska passionate about medicine was being able to make your own decisions and having more responsibility for yourself in the back of an ambulance. However, many students who are passionate about the medical field and nursing school aren’t aware of the many roles and responsibilities that come with it. Upon noticing the problem, Mikeska decided she wanted to make an impact earlier on down the line, starting with highschoolers. Junior Sarah Jacob views Mikeska as “detail oriented” but keeps it simple for those who need it.
“I love Ms. Mikeska so much,” Jacob said. “She’s been such an amazing teacher, and she honestly helped me so much last year, and I’m so, so grateful for her.”
Although Mikeska doesn’t view medical shows such as Grey’s Anatomy entirely accurate, specifically concerning the flatline and patients being shocked, Mikeska enjoys watching Nightwatch, a show where emergency responders such as policemen, firemen and emergency medical services in New Orleans work a chaotic nightshift, relating to her experience working in an ambulance. Additionally, not related to healthcare, Mikeska’s favorite TV show is NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) which has both action and amusement on a team working together in high-stress situations connected to the Navy and Marine Corps.
“I’m very transparent and honest with the kids,” Mikeska said. “In the past they have all come to me with their background of health care being Grey’s Anatomy and so they all seem very excited about Grey’s Anatomy until I burst their little bubble and go ‘That’s not real life.’ I’m like ‘Everything is not so easy and clean, and we don’t get it done in 30 minutes,’ and so I bring the experiences that I have either on the ambulance or in the hospital, and I will bring those stories into the classroom.”
Anatomy and Physiology teacher Shannon Hattic went to the Reese Center with Mikeska several times a year for the CTE planning days.
“One of the things that I saw right away is her knowledge and expertise that she is bringing to all of her classes here at Clements High School,” Hattic said. “She is here super early every day to prepare for her classes, and she works hard on a daily basis.”
Similar to Hattic, computer science teacher Joshua Fugel has known Mikeska from going to the Reese Center for the CTE meetings.
“The way she handles club meetings, the way she deals with the massive amount of people that are involved in HOSA and handles the parents, handles everybody, everything involved is definitely not the easiest thing to take care of,” Fugel said.
Like Hattic’s testimony, when engineering teacher Daniel Doremus first learned of Mikeska, he knew she would do a fantastic job based on her reputation of being caring, supportive, and organized.
“I’m glad she’s part of my team, and I really look forward to working with her this year and seeing what she’s able to do in the classroom and also with the clubs that she’s working with,” Doremus said.
As other teachers have said, Mikeska has positively impacted the CTE program by putting in effort to improve the health science department and always being engaged.
“She is definitely a wonderful asset and is helping us to build our health science department here,” Hattic said. “We are so, so happy and extremely blessed to have Ms. Mikeska here at CHS.”
