Graduates of local high school healthcare academy care for program creator’s father in life, and in death

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - The Greater Waco Advanced Health Care Academy, or GWAHCA for short, has always had a special place in the heart of the Waco ISD’s director of career and technical education, Donna McKethan, who was instrumental in launching the unique program for high school students six years ago.

“We are producing our future (certified nursing assistants), our future doctors, nurses,” McKethan said.

McKethan’s appreciation for the program and its students grew after her father became a resident at Wesley Woods Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, where a former student, Amy Pecina, and other graduates of the program, helped care for him.

“(It was) kind of crazy,” Pecina, a certified nursing assistant, said.

“You would have never thought one of your residents is the father of the creator of the school you went to,” she said.

And graduates of the program were there on Monday when McKethan’s father died.

“After he passed, they helped prepare him for the funeral home to come get him,” McKethan said.

“They waited for me as we were leaving to hug my neck, tell me they loved me, and thank me for having that program. Then the joy became a little different.”

“I can’t believe these girls are actually here and being successful. All the nurses on the staff would say these are such well-prepared girls.”

Copyright 2021 KWTX. All rights reserved.