After five years, Monterey Adult School reopens its nursing assistant program.

After a five-year pause, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is ready to again offer its certified nursing assistant program at Monterey Adult School.

Principal Beth Wodecki says the school worked for several months with state health officials to reinstate the program. Local demand and public interest moved it forward. “Health care is one of our highest employers [in the region],” Wodecki says. “We are constantly being called and asked when we’re going to have our CNA program back.”

Fabiola Gonzalez of Seaside, who recently obtained her GED, is glad she won’t have to drive to Salinas to enroll in a CNA program (Salinas Adult School also offers a CNA program). Gonzalez works cleaning houses and, twice a week, in elder care. She provides basic care such as feeding and bringing water to the elderly man she cares for; she says being in the CNA program would help her provide better care: “I would feel more comfortable knowing how to help him,” she says in Spanish. Once she finishes the program, she will look for a full-time job as a CNA.

The program was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a struggle to find an instructor. Ultimately, MPUSD found and hired Debra Byrom, a licensed practical nurse, to revive the program.

Byrom says the CNA program is a stepping stone for students who want to pursue a health care career. CNAs spend a considerable amount of time with patients providing care including bathing, moving or feeding patients. “They’re really a nurse’s eyes and ears,” Byrom says.

The nine-week program starts Feb. 6. Students will have hands-on experience at Cypress Ridge Care Center, a rehabilitation and nursing home in Monterey