Pathways Academy Students Spend Week as VA Hospital Volunteers

By Chris Carmody

A weeklong volunteer project at the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock gave teens from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Pathways Academy an opportunity to learn about health careers and the sacrifices that veterans have made on behalf of the nation.

Pathways Academy is an educational and community engagement program in the UAMS Division for Academic Pathways and Workforce Partnerships. The program prepares K-12 students for careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health sciences (STEM-H) disciplines.

Seventeen high school students from central Arkansas took part in the volunteer effort, with each of them logging nearly 40 hours of service. Katina White, education and curriculum coordinator for Pathways Academy, noted that the 2023 Arkansas LEARNS Act requires high school students to perform 75 hours of community service before they receive their diplomas.

Pathways Academy Students Spend Week as VA Hospital Volunteers

High school students from UAMS’ Pathways Academy take part in a virtual reality demonstration at the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock. The students spent a week as volunteers at the hospital, interacting with veterans and gaining a better understanding of how war has changed the lives of those who served.