Witnessing a heightened need for future healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Regina Beard was inspired to create VicTory 4 Kidz in 2022 to empower children to explore careers in healthcare.
VicTory 4 Kidz began as a week-long summer camp with 11 students and was followed by its first Masquerade Gala that autumn. In February of 2023, VicTory 4 Kidz held its first Youth Healthcare Career Expo, which welcomed healthcare professionals and students as young as fifth grade to meet and learn from each other. Since then, VicTory 4 Kidz has hosted a total of four Youth Healthcare Career Expos with more on the way.
There is an upcoming Youth Healthcare Career Expo in Porter County at Chesterton's Duneland Falls Banquet Center on October 8, 9, and 10 and in La Porte County at the La Porte Civic Center on December 2, 3, 4. Having already impacted over 10,000 students from seven counties in Indiana and two in Illinois, Dr. Beard and her community partners are excited to connect with and educate over 1,000 new and returning students at the upcoming expos.
Superintendent of the School City of Hobart Dr. Peggy Buffington is a longstanding community partner of Dr. Beard and VicTory 4 Kidz who faithfully attends the expos because she has seen, time and again, how positively it impacts students from Hobart and beyond.
“There are hundreds of kids at each expo which is wonderful because it would be overwhelming to try to have all of these kids going to all of these hospitals. They get to experiment at these expos, and we try to help kids figure out what their interests and passions are,” Buffington said. “Dr. Beard is one of those partners who will keep going and providing the expo because every year, there will be a student who is going to decide, ‘I might want to do this.’ The expo opens doors and minds for kids to think about what they want to do. We've had kids who want to go again, which says a lot about the program. Dr. Beard is providing a great service.”
At the expo, kids receive a set of paper scrubs and take a hands-on approach to exploring different medical processes. Through interactive workshops, they learn how to take blood pressure, perform CPR, and more. Healthcare providers from various networks and hospitals also host presentations to help kids learn more about different aspects of the medical field such as phlebotomy.
Through strong support from community partners in multiple industries, kids are able to learn about topics that go beyond the medical field at the Youth Healthcare Career Expo.
“I wanted the expo to be a one-stop shop. Chase Bank, who has been an excellent community partner, teaches the students about finances, because it does no good to have a youth who's making $100,000 a year once they graduate into their career if they don't know how to manage it. Edgepark Health has partnered with us for mental health so kids know how to seek out help if they are depressed or going through life changes,” Dr. Beard said. “We have had partnerships with a lot of community organizations.”
While the Youth Healthcare Career Expo is VicTory 4 Kidz’s staple event, another event that is growing in popularity is the Masquerade Gala. The Masquerade Gala is a black-tie event that welcomes everyone in the community to mingle and enjoy a night of music and fun. The next Masquerade Gala is on October 17 at Avalon Manor.
The primary purpose of the Masquerade Gala is to raise funds for VicTory 4 Kidz, but fundraising aside, Dr. Beard is excited to host the first-ever fireside chat at the gala. The fireside chat will feature a panel of local healthcare professionals and educators alike, such as Chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College’s Valparaiso Campus Aco Sikoski; CEO of St. Mary Medical Center Janice Ryba; and Physician and Founder of Community HealthNet Dr. Janet Seabrook. Additionally, gala speakers include Buffington; Director/Principal of Porter County Career and Technical Education Audra Peterson; Dean of College of Health and Human Services at Indiana University Northwest Dr. Crystal Shannon; "Chi" Actresses Amari Noelle and Ahmad Ferguson; and Founder of Northwest Indiana Healthcare Disparities Denise Dillard.
“This will be our second Masquerade Gala,” Dr. Beard said. “This is the first time we're having a fireside chat. The theme of the gala is ‘The Future of Healthcare is Now’ because what we need to start thinking about as a society is, ‘Who's going to take care of us? Will it be a robot? Do we have enough healthcare professionals to take care of us?’ Looking at the numbers, we don't have enough people – the pandemic already told us that. That means that our job right now is to begin to encourage the youth to pursue healthcare.”
Over the past two years of its existence, VicTory 4 Kidz has inspired a passion for healthcare for many students including its very first student, Carlo Armstrong, a sophomore from Merrillville High School. VicTory 4 Kidz has not only helped to fuel his interest in pursuing a career in healthcare, but he also discovered which medical specialty he may pursue in the future.
“When I first started camp, I wanted to become a neurologist; I learned a lot about that. Once I began going to high school and started taking principles of biomedical science, I thought,
‘Maybe I want to do cardiology.’ When we visited Ivy Tech, we learned about cardiology. They had this big technology model where you can see the inside of the body,” Armstrong said.
Since getting involved with VicTory 4 Kidz, Armstrong has even had the opportunity to teach students at Veterans Elementary in Hobart about STEAM. Armstrong is grateful for Dr. Beard’s belief in him and the influence VicTory 4 Kidz has had on his life.
“Dr. Beard never fails to amaze me. You may not think about anything past what you are doing, but she goes bigger. I just thank her so much for this opportunity because she is really expanding my knowledge on the healthcare industry,” Armstrong said.
To learn more about VicTory 4 Kidz, its upcoming events, and how to get involved, visit victory4kidz.net.