Teresa Vernon, Nursing Assistant & Health Careers Program Coordinator, was awarded the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Post-Secondary Educator of the Year by Arizona’s Association
for CTE. The award recognizes instructors for their accomplishments and dedication to students and CTE in Arizona.
“I was shocked when I received the award notification. It’s an honor to build this program from almost the ground up,” said Vernon. “What I am most proud of is seeing my students employed and thriving in the workplace.
Teresa Vernon has worked with Cochise College, the Cochise Technology District CTED, and Cochise County high schools for about 15 years. Over the years, she has formed a team of instructors and created a high-quality curriculum to give Cochise County high school students the knowledge and skills to become caring and highly trained healthcare professionals. Vernon works with long-term care facilities and hospitals to ensure students are well-prepared to provide quality patient care in diverse healthcare settings. She manages programs at nine high schools and college district-wide. She is the coordinator and lead instructor for the CTE healthcare team consisting of Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aide. Each day, she streams live with students from six small, rural high schools in one virtual classroom and provides leadership to a team of eight high school instructors and paraprofessionals. In the past five years, 113 Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and 57 Home Health Aide certifications have been earned through her leadership.
Additionally, Vernon oversees programs for two large school districts which have enrolled over 131 CNA students in the past five years. Her program has high certification percentages resulting in well over 200 CNAs produced in Cochise County over the last five years.
Through her partnership with the CTED, a program was developed, and 87 home health aides have been certified in the last three years. Vernon was part of the initial small state-wide team that worked with the ADE and AHCCCS to bring the Home Health Aide Program to high schools.
Vernon has been a guest speaker at the Vail Unified School District and the AZ State Board of Nursing annual Nursing Assistant Educators Retreat. She serves on the Nursing Assistant Test Advisory Panel and the Train the Trainer Committee for the AZ State Board of Nursing.