By Suzie Glassman. This story originally appeared in the Arvada Press, a production of Colorado Community Media. It has been edited for clarity and space. To read the full version, click here.
At 8:15 a.m. on a recent Friday, while most high school students were easing into their day, a group of Arvada West juniors and seniors rolled up their sleeves for a hands-on lesson in how medications dissolve inside the human body.
The experiment took place inside Arvada West’s pharmacy technician class, where students learn real-world healthcare skills alongside University of Colorado mentors. It’s part of a new pilot partnership between Arvada West High School and the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy, designed to introduce high school students to the field of pharmacy and inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals.
The program, now in its second year, combines technical training, mentorship from graduate students and career exploration.
“I didn’t even know about this path when I was in high school,” said Lynette Johnston, who created the program at Arvada West in 2023 and remains the only instructor in Jeffco Public Schools currently teaching it.
“Pharmacy is often overlooked, but there’s a massive need for pharmacy technicians right now. This class helps fill that gap, and for some students, it opens a door they didn’t even know was there.”
From tech to teacher
Johnston, a former pharmacy technician herself, left the profession to become a science teacher. But while completing her student teaching, she encountered a fellow educator who had previously taught a pharmacy technician class, and the idea clicked.
Armed with industry experience and a desire to give back to the community, Johnston set out to create a program that blended Career and Technical Education standards with real-world relevance.
“I realized this was a way to bring both of my passions together,” Johnston said. “Pharmacy technician is one of Colorado’s top 10 in-demand jobs, according to the state. So it made perfect sense to offer something that gave students a head start.”
Johnston said her students learn more than just the basics of drug names and dosage forms.
The curriculum includes topics such as sterile compounding, glucometer testing, the proper use of EpiPens and Narcan, and even soft skills like customer communication in a retail pharmacy setting.
Johnston frequently supplements instruction with hands-on activities, sometimes mixing body butter or practicing with chopsticks to simulate fine motor skills, other times using syringes to simulate sterile technique.
“There’s something about getting their hands dirty that lights them up,” she said. “They walk away from those days feeling proud — like, ‘Look what I just did.’”
Partnership born from a networking moment
The collaboration with CU’s School of Pharmacy began somewhat by chance. At an annual gathering of students interested in health science careers, Johnston met Dr. Chandler Follett, a CU Pharmacy faculty member who was supervising graduate students providing skills demonstrations. That meeting led to follow-up conversations and, eventually, the idea for a formal classroom partnership.
Graduate students Sarah Fleming and Elise Reinke were assigned to Arvada West as part of their community outreach. The partnership has since evolved into an ongoing relationship where Fleming and Reinke visit the classroom, lead lessons, and share their educational journeys.
“I think it’s really empowering to be able to share your story with someone else and have them learn from it,” said Elise Reinke, a second-year CU pharmacy student. “By sharing my story, I hope I can inspire someone to go into pharmacy, or not even pharmacy, but healthcare in general.”
The April 11 visit included an experiment simulating how medications dissolve in the stomach and a workshop on maintaining a home medication card. This exercise highlights the importance of maintaining accurate and up-to-date records for patient safety.
“We used three types of capsules and tablets to show how they dissolve in acid,” Reinke said. “It was really simple just vinegar and some capsules, but it opened up a conversation about how absorption changes depending on a person’s anatomy, food intake or even medications like antacids. The students were super engaged.”
Students also learned that pharmacists can do far more than fill prescriptions.
“When we talked about what pharmacists can actually do like prescribe birth control, check blood pressure, help manage HIV prevention — it was clear they didn’t know how broad the role is,” Reinke said.
Reinke, who is originally from Iowa, said she hadn’t known anything about Colorado’s school system when she was assigned to Arvada West, but quickly found the partnership rewarding.
“It’s so different from my day-to-day as a graduate student,” she said. “I went into pharmacy for the meaningful relationships, and this has just been a new and unique opportunity to create those—especially with younger students.”
A pipeline for future professionals
Regardless of their path after graduation, Johnston hopes the program will give her students a leg up should they choose a healthcare career.
“They already know drug classifications and how medications work,” Johnston said. “When they get to college, they’ll have a foundation their classmates may not. It builds confidence.”
The students’ enthusiasm has surprised even Johnston. When asked to help promote the program at recruiting events for younger students, her class responded with an enthusiastic “Yes.”
“They were like, ‘We love this class, we want to tell people about it,’” Johnston said. “And honestly, I didn’t expect that. Because pharmacy isn’t exactly flashy, but we’ve made it real.”
One highlight involved a recent sterile compounding lab, where students practiced drawing and transferring fluids into IV bags using syringes.
“You could see their hands shaking, and they were nervous,” Johnston said. “But afterward, they were so proud. One girl told me it was the coolest thing she’s ever done. She took pictures and sent them to her mom.”
Reinke said those interactions have stuck with her, too.
“We’ve visited four times now, and I really feel like I’ve gotten to know the students,” she said. “Some of them are already telling me where they’re going to college and what they want to do. It’s been so cool to watch that progress.”
Representation and relatability
For Johnston, one of the most powerful aspects of the CU partnership is the mentorship dynamic it creates. Fleming and Reinke, both in their twenties, are close enough in age to the high schoolers that conversations flow naturally.
Reinke agrees.
“One of the students said in a video made by the district something along the lines of ‘They’re not that much older than us, and it’s cool to see the steps they’ve taken since high school to get where they are. If they can do it, I can too,’” Reinke said. “That was everything for me.”
She hopes the impact goes beyond the classroom.
“If one student goes home and tells their parent, ‘You can get your blood pressure checked for free at the pharmacy,’ and that leads to them catching a health issue early, that’s huge,” Reinke said. “That small interaction could lead to someone getting care that changes their life.”