As written by Ainsley Hall and published in The Journal on May 20, 2025
High school students and their families gathered at Jefferson High School on Tuesday for the MedEd signing ceremony, where the students officially joined the program.
This will be Jefferson County Schools’ third MedEd class, which will be getting real experience working in the medical field as it prepares to join the workforce.
Jessica Marquez is one of many students who will begin a new step in their education and has wanted to be a nurse or doctor for as long as she can remember. Ever since she was little, she’s had an interest in helping people.
So, when representatives from the MedEd program came and spoke during her health class and explained how it can help prepare her for the medical field, she thought it was the perfect opportunity to get a head start on her career.
“I’ve always liked helping people and talking to them,” Marquez said. “It makes me feel good. I’ve always liked health care. I’m really interested in knowing how the human body works.”
After finishing high school and the MedEd program, Marquez plans on attending West Virginia University. She is still deciding on if she wants to be a nurse or doctor, but she hopes to work with kids. She looks forward to meeting new people, working with them throughout the program and is eager to start.
Following the signing ceremony, current MedEd students put together a demonstration for guests to see what new students will be learning. Students explained how to record someone’s blood pressure, how a pregnancy test works and how to do a blood sugar test.
Marissa Lawall and Harper Powell are both juniors at Jefferson High School and are just finishing up their first year in the MedEd program. They volunteered to do the blood sugar test demonstration, with Lawall pricking Powell’s finger to check her glucose level.
When Lawall first joined the program, she didn’t know which career path to choose but knew she wanted to go into the medical field.
She saw that MedEd offered three different career focuses, including laboratory technician, medical assisting and radiology technician, so she decided it would be a great way to see what interested her most. Powell explained that her friend joined the program the year before, and she was very interested in radiology, which led to her participating in MedEd.
Lawall and Powell said the new students have a lot to look forward to throughout the program, including getting hands-on experience. They explained that students won’t know everything once they start but encouraged them to ask questions to learn more.
“It’s one thing to study the terminology and medical practices,” Powell said. “It’s a whole other thing going out and experiencing it yourself.”
The MedEd program, which started three years ago, is a partnership between Jefferson County Schools, WVU Medicine and Blue Ridge Community and Technical College. It’s designed to prepare high school students for future careers in the medical field.
With help from the Education Alliance, which provided a $4.7 million grant toward MedEd all over the state, students at both Jefferson and Washington high schools have the opportunity for a paid internship and real-life experience.