Sharpen Your Skills!

From left: Cheryl Deardurff, Laura Zmudzinski and Neferttira Smith-Hankins

Congratulations to Cheryl Deardurff, Laura Zmudzinski and Neferttira Smith-Hankins for graduating from Beacon’s School at Work (SAW) program. The three hard-working associates recently completed the six-month program designed to sharpen job skills and give them a chance to explore career opportunities. SAW is similar to a college prep course and is intended for associates who’ve been out of school for a while, those looking to go back or those just wanting to hone their skills. The typical SAW student is a frontline team member, loves health care and wants to advance.

The program emphasizes patient satisfaction and safety, and communication skills, including refreshers on workplace grammar, writing and reading comprehension.

SAW also covers creating a career plan, setting and achieving goals, developing time management strategies for both work and home and successfully dealing with stress.

“Each of these women has realized her potential and is looking to move forward in her career,” says Katie Wirebaugh, School at Work coach.

Cheryl, a patient care assistant for the last two years, had been out of school for more three decades. She plans to attend nursing school.

“Needless to say I needed to brush up on my skills,” Cheryl says. “I loved the whole experience! Katie and Dr. Brown made the classes fun. When I felt overwhelmed by the math work, my classmates and instructors would pitch in and help me.”

Interested in the SAW program?

Contact Katie at kwirebaugh@beaconhealthsystem.org.