From Classrooms to Care: Central Vermont Medical Center Welcomes Wave of Enthusiastic Student Volunteer

Berlin, VT – Sophomore Emily Hill of Harwood Union High School is eagerly looking forward to a summer full of opportunities: swim team, sports camps and travel, summer jobs as a lifeguard and scooping ice cream.

Right now, though, Hill’s schedule every Thursday looks different than most other high schoolers. She’s one of more than a dozen local students who have recently started volunteering at University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center. The influx of young enthusiasm and interest is already making a noticeable impact both at the hospital and at Woodridge Nursing and Rehabilitation.

Hill, who volunteers at Woodridge every Thursday after school, said she was inspired to get involved after seeing how health care workers helped a close friend recover from a severe accident.

“I was so impressed how everyone handled it and really inspired by it,” she said. “I thought: ‘this would be something I would love to help with and make a positive impact on people’s lives at the hardest times.’”

For two hours each week, Hill works directly with residents on Woodridge’s Maple Grove unit, the facility’s memory care unit serving individuals with dementia and other related conditions. She helps with mealtime, does activities with residents and spends one-on-one time giving “spa treatments,” which include conversation and nail-painting.

Hill doesn’t have a set schedule for her volunteerism, but an overall goal of logging 30 hours over her first three months. While she didn’t know what to expect at first and was intimidated at the prospect of working with individuals dealing with memory-related conditions, Hill quickly came to admire and care for them.

“These people are so full of life, and I just want them to have the best experience,” she said.

An Influx of Young Enthusiasm and

Julia Page, volunteer services manager at UVM Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center, said that recent outreach to some local schools has resulted in a minor tidal wave of students coming into the hospital’s program. Fourteen student volunteers have joined the hospital since October – a serious spike for a program that previously could count the number of student volunteers on one hand, she said. 

“For students, it’s a great way to dip their toe in the water, get some experience that looks good on their resume and a cool way to see what working in health care can be,” said Page, who has managed the hospital’s volunteer programs for more than 15 years. 

Students applying to the program fill out an online application. Page works with each student to match their interests to opportunities at Woodridge and the hospital. Prospective volunteers must be 14 years of age or older.

Some students, like eighth grader Azalea Eagan of Crossett Brook Middle School in Waterbury, Vermont, reach out early to get started on the application process. Eagan, whose mother Jasmine is a registered nurse, thinks she may want to be a physician – possibly a pediatrician.

Azalea also recently started volunteering at Woodridge’s Maple Grove – though unlike Hill she knew more about what to expect because of a close relative who suffered from dementia.

“I guess I’ve always been used to talking to older people. I just talk to them and have conversations like if they were my age,” she said, urging other students to participate. “Just try it. You don’t know; it could be fun, and you could like it. It also benefits you in many different ways.”

Job Training for Students with Disabilities 

In addition to general volunteering opportunities in the hospital and at Woodridge, in 2021 Central Vermont Medical Center partnered with the Transitions Program at Washington Central Unified Union School District in East Montpelier. 

The program, run by Director John Boyd III out of U-32 High School, focuses on providing vocational training in real-world settings to students with disabilities. Boyd, who joined the district several years ago from school districts in Seattle, Washington, said he brought with him a keen understanding of and appreciation for the value health care organizations can bring to efforts to help students transition from high school to post-graduation. 

“Hospitals are the first places I tend to look, because I’ve found them to be great organizations to support this type of program,” said Boyd. “Being in health care, there is just a natural warm, welcoming feeling from staff. They come into the work with that focus on helping and nurturing. They also understand where their future nurses, doctors and staff come from – our local high schools.” 

Launched during the COVID pandemic, the program’s first two students spent time working with Nutrition and Food Services staff at the hospital and the Environmental Services Department at Woodridge. While the program remains small – currently four students are enrolled – Boyd hopes to continue expanding options for students in additional departments at Central Vermont Medical Center. 

The program is open to students from all schools in the Champlain Valley and Boyd travels throughout the region performing orientations and assessments of how well students are prepared for life post-graduation. Boyd focuses on students with Individualized Education Plans, or IEPs, which he said make up 20 to 30 percent of students in the region. 

“I tell parents: I want the day after school ends to be routine, not this big break students have to go through,” said Boyd. “There is a huge population of young adults who aren’t going off to college. Programs like this help shine a light on the fact that we’ve got great workers here.” 

Enriching Experiences

Kathi Tynan, life enrichment coordinator at Woodridge, said the influx of student volunteers has generated energy among residents at the facility – especially on the unit serving individuals with dementia. 

“They bring such a fresh energy and enthusiasm,” she said of students. “They all seem to love coming here to learn. There’s eagerness there. They all have their different personalities and gifts, and the residents really respond to that.”

Tynan oversees student volunteers on Woodridge’s Maple Dementia Unit, providing individualized assignments based on their strengths and interests. Students could end up helping staff put on an organized activity, or spending one-on-one time with a resident matched specifically with them.

For example, Tynan said, one student volunteer has been spending their time doing puzzles with a bed-bound resident; a student with a love of music spends time chatting with a former musician; and a third with a fondness for card games plays cribbage with a group of residents. 

“Some of the biggest impacts we see are just from people who are able to spend that in-the-moment time with residents,” said Tynan. “Being able to just be fully present and doing something the resident hasn’t done in a long time, that makes a big impact.” 

Residents aren’t the only ones who see benefits from the student volunteers’ time with Central Vermont Medical Center. 

“Volunteerism can be transformational for students,” said Page, the volunteer services manager. “People notice how they grow over the course of the year; it’s a way for them to forge connections, learn about health care and move into independence. Students get to see that what they’re doing makes a difference, and their perspective grows.”