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HCC Criminal Justice & ECE

The First Few Weeks at Highland Community College

CareerTEC students in both Criminal Justice and Early Childhood Education courses have had a busy first couple weeks of classes!

For Criminal Justice, students learned the first 3 of many fingerprint patterns today and were able to ink their own fingerprints with the ceramic ink pads. Then, were able to choose a magnifiers (handheld or big screen) to determine each pattern of their own fingerprints. Later in the semester they will learn more patterns and fingerprint minutiae (ridge endings).

The students also completed a classroom task called the "Serial Killer Challenge." Students put their memory to the test without cell phones and must identify 28 serial killers by photo and nickname or description. We have gone over a few of the cases and this is a way to test their memory from the lectures. The students put their critical thinking skills to work through identifying each one based on clues given to them. After 15 minutes, students are then allowed to use their cell phones to test the power of AI to assist them. AI was not as successful helping them, until they figured out how to ask it.

For Early Childhood Education, CareerTEC students spent the first week of school with curriculum introduction and preparation for their observation placements! Highland partners with the YMCA and the Freeport School District Early Learning Center to provide hands-on classroom experiences for our ECE students, which allows them to observe and gain real experiences through learning applications.

Culinary Arts Aug/Sept Article

In the first few weeks of school, Culinary Arts focuses on preparing students for the course by training them on safety and sanitation procedures and knowledge. They learn about important topics such as safe food handling, required internal cooking temperatures, and preventing the spread of foodborne illness. When the unit is complete, students will take the industry recognized Certified Professional Food Manager exam, and receive their Food Manager license if they score a 70% or higher. Concurrently, students have been introduced to knife skills, learning proper grip, safety, and form. They are practicing specific knife cuts such as dice, julienne, and brunoise. In the first half of September, students will finish the sanitation and knife skills units, followed by beginning the cooking methods unit. This will include practicing each cooking method, such as braising, sauteing, and roasting, with a variety of foods.

HOYA 2 Aug/Sept Article

I am very proud of each of our HOYA 2 students; they all passed their state CNA exam on their first try. As we only meet on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons, we haven't had too much time in class, but our students have been discussing their internships. Many students were busy over their summer break, working and getting some of their required 255 total internship hours, though not all students have their internship hours locked down just yet. Students have chosen internships at a hospital, several nursing homes, an assisted living facility, and a veterinarian clinic. As they learned in HOYA 1, healthcare is not just limited to CNAs, physicians, or nursing; veterinary medicine is definitely an important career path in the field. They will be building upon the skills they learned in HOYA 1, as well as working on their employability skills.

We also spent some time discussing what it takes to earn college credit, breaking down the in-class and out-of-class time expectations, from a single-credit course all the way up to a full-time load of around 16 credit hours. This discussion will serve our students well as they head into their college careers, giving them a realistic sense of the time commitment involved.

In the coming months, a different pair of students will research and present a bulletin board on a healthcare concern or disease relevant to all CareerTEC students. This initiative is an essential part of their curriculum, allowing students to creatively express their knowledge and insights while engaging and teaching the community of other CareerTEC students, as well as followers of our HOYA Facebook page. Stay tuned for the unveiling of their work and the valuable insights it will bring! Our first bulletin board of the year was a fun one with the entire class working on it. HOYA 2 welcomed our current HOYA 1 students with a "What I Wish I Knew" board, sharing advice and encouragement as the new students begin their own CNA journey.

Students will also be beginning their journey into Medical Terminology, tackling small snippets of prefixes, suffixes, and word parts for their weekly quizzes. As they say, the best way to eat an elephant (or in this case, Medical Terminology) is one bite at a time! An essential part of their Medical Terminology curriculum will be a year-long Capstone project, where students explore 12 different body systems, choosing 2-3 diseases pertinent to each system and compiling 15 medical terms related to it, complete with diagrams and pictures.

Careers in Business Aug/Sept Article

Careers In Business (CIB)

August/September 2026

Welcome Careers In Business - we have a full house this year…26 CIB I and 13 CIB II and I am so thankful for each of them!! In general, we learn skills in the business world and in everyday life! The first few days were ice breakers, a lot of formal introductions including shaking hands, and impromptu 10-minute conversations with people they didn’t know. We are all about “baptism by fire” in CIB I and they did a great job!

We are focusing on communication skills as they are the most important skill set in any career. We just finished learning about interpersonal communication and emotional intelligence. The student had heated debates and had to “read” the other student’s non-verbal cues.

Next is Team Communications where they will create an agenda, hold their own group meetings, and design and market this years’ career gear which will be sold mid-September. Excel also begins at the beginning of September and it will be a love/hate relationship no doubt.

Congrats to our football athletes who began each of their Dakota, Freeport, and Pecatonica seasons with a win! Our volleyball and golfers have also been doing well too.

CIB II has 13 seniors who have internships at local businesses. Some of the students began their internship this summer to accommodate their busy school schedule while others have just started. It was the student’s responsibility to find their own internship. Below is a list of the students and their home school.

Kylie Blakely Orangeville

Sebastian Countryman Pecatonica

Jarrett Forde Pecatonica

Abigail Hazzard Orangeville

Brock Komprood Orangeville

Caden Lender Pecatonica

Emma Nicholson Pecatonica

Hailey Pizzolato Orangeville

Reagan Rawson Pecatonica

Reid Rohner Freeport

Onyx Schatz Freeport

Jesse Schrader Dakota

Ryker Wachlin Pecatonica

In addition to their internships, we meet weekly where they work portfolios, college and career papers, volunteering, and presentations just to name a few things. I’m looking forward to getting to know this year’s group of students and watching them grow!

HOYA 1 Aug/Sept Article

Two Weeks of Learning, Growing & Building CNA Skills!

We have had a fantastic start to the school year in HOYA1! During these first two weeks, our students have been busy learning the foundations of what it means to become a caring, professional, and dependable nursing assistant.

One of the first skills we focused on was proper handwashing and hand hygiene. Students learned why hand hygiene is one of the most important ways healthcare workers can help prevent the spread of infection and protect both themselves and their residents.

Students practiced the proper steps and technique for handwashing, including when handwashing is necessary, how to thoroughly clean all areas of the hands, and the importance of taking the appropriate amount of time to wash properly. They also learned that something as simple as washing their hands can make a tremendous difference in providing safe, quality care.

Our students didn't just learn the steps—they practiced them! They worked together, observed one another, identified areas for improvement, and began developing the muscle memory needed to perform this essential skill correctly.

These first two weeks have been about establishing a strong foundation, and our students are off to a great start!

We are excited to continue building on these skills as we move further into the course. There is so much more to learn, practice, and accomplish!