Shaylee Bragdon take a registration form from a student for a school blood drive. Shaylee Bragdon, a senior in Health Science, has certainly found her calling. Shaylee comes from a family of nurses and knew attending Pickaway-Ross would give her the foundation for her career in nursing.

     “A lot of my family are nurses — mom, grandma, uncle — so I’ve seen how much they’ve done and I really want to help people,” Shaylee said.

     Her goal is to be a trauma nurse. She has earned her STNA and since September has been working as a nurse aide at Westmoreland Place. She is completing the Medical Assisting program and, once certified, hopes to work as a medical assistant at a doctor’s office or hospital.

     She also has put her training to use as the organizer for the school’s blood drives this year, working with Nurse Mindy Frejkowski. Shaylee worked with a senior last year and has made the job her own this year, focusing on an expedited check-in process and ensuring COVID-safe protocols.

     Her willingness to take on projects is just one of the reasons she was nominated for the Ohio Association of Career and Technical Education Presidential Scholar Award by lab instructor Adrienne Davis and English teacher Katie Hewitt.

     “Shaylee Bragdon stands out for her unwavering dependability and commitment to her community. She is always the first to volunteer, be it for a classroom project or a school-wide undertaking. Miss Bragdon approaches each task with tenacity and professionalism,” the teachers wrote in their nomination.

     In addition, Shaylee is in the drug-free club MADE, is vice president of Student Council and secretary for SkillsUSA. During her freshman and sophomore years, she played softball at her home school, Unioto.

     Shaylee said she plans to continue her nursing education after high school, possibly through Pickaway-Ross Adult Education’s LPN program.