Elizabeth Hartley, who teaches health science at Bulloch County Schools, was recently recognised as a national ambassador for health science education. at addition, she was selected as a finalist for the position of Georgia’s top new teacher in career technical education.
Hayley Greene, who is the director of Public Relations for the school system, made the announcement in a press release that the National Consortium for Health Science Education chose Hartley to be a part of its team of twelve health science educators. It is the responsibility of the Consortium to promote career and technical education and to provide support for professional development for educators working in the field of health science across the country.
Callie Davis, who hails from Cherokee County, and Melissa Culpepper, who hails from Colquitt County, are the other two Georgians that are members of the team.
In an email that was sent out to announce Hartley’s selection, Rachel Pophman, the president of Georgia’s Healthcare Science Technology Educators Association, stated, “These are some of the best and brightest in the state, and I have the pleasure of working with them.” “This is a tremendous achievement, and I am glad to be the leader of our state organisation, which is comprised of individuals who have such a strong desire to achieve excellence in everything that they do.”
Co-hosting national webinars, assisting with significant events such as the Health Occupations Students of America International Leadership Conference, and promoting national involvement within the health science career education community are all things that Hartley will accomplish in her role as an ambassador.
In addition, the Healthcare Science Technology Educators Association honoured Hartley with the title of New Allied Health Teacher of the Year at its Winter Conference in Savannah in the month of January.
Because of this honour, she was eligible to compete for the New Teacher of the Year award that is granted by the Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education. The award will be handed during the conference that the Association will be holding in Athens from June 16–18. In her capacity as a nominee from the Healthcare Science division, Hartley will be competing against new teacher nominees from eleven other division winners.
Hartley has just finished her third year working as an instructor for the Therapeutic Allied Health and Medicine career track in Bulloch County. This program is based at Southeast Bulloch High School in Brooklet.
She noted that she had personal experience with the ways in which career technical education can help prepare high school students for admittance into the medical industry. She drew from her own experiences.
More than 130 students are served annually by the pathway, which is open to students attending any of the three high schools that are part of the school district. The pathway is comprised of three levels: Introduction to Healthcare, Essentials of Healthcare, which fulfils the requirements for science credit, and Allied Health, which includes clinical rotations twice a week in over 35 local hospitals and medical offices, including the East Georgia Regional Medical Centre in Statesboro.
There is a local pipeline for future healthcare professionals that is represented by the career pathway. In the year 2025, Hartley was able to successfully renew the national Industry Certification status of the pathway for a fourth time. This was a standard that was established by Sharon Pye, who was the program’s inaugural instructor.
The highest level of achievement that can be achieved through career and technical education programs is accomplished through the attainment of Industry Certification.
In addition to her role as a teacher, Hartley is simultaneously employed at EGRMC as a registered nurse, a certified emergency nurse, and a trauma-certified registered nurse simultaneously. An innovation that further enriches the real-world relevance of her program and provides students with valuable career readiness skills is the addition of clinical experiences to her program for students who meet the requirements. This was made possible as a result of her collaboration with the hospital.
In 2024, students from Hartley achieved a pass rate of 93% on the national healthcare pathway exam, and this year, they achieved a pass rate of 89%, which is significantly higher than the average of 60% in Georgia. Additionally, Hartley is the presiding officer of the Health Occupations Student Association chapter at the school. The students who are a part of this organisation have been recognised at both the state and national levels of competition.
The year 2019 marked the completion of Hartley’s nursing program at Aiken Technical College, where she graduated as the nursing program’s salutatorian and earned an associate’s degree in nursing. One year later, she attended Georgia Southern University and received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from that institution.
Educators who are in their first five years of service and who have demonstrated excellence in classroom instruction, student achievement, and leadership within the community of career technical education are eligible to receive the New Teacher of the Year award from the Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education. This award is given to outstanding educators like Hartley.
