By Johana Lastor

Dr. Galvez, a PHS AP Environmental Science teacher, along with Mr. Nyabeta, an AP Biology, Human Anatomy and Biology Honors teacher, are advisors of the Future Meds of America club at Passaic High School. Both teachers have teamed up to continue the club, which has been going on in the school for some time now.
According to Mr. Nyabeta, “It was already created when I came, it was created years ago.”

When asked for the process on how he applied to become an advisor, Mr. Nyabeta said, “normally the beginning of the year they apply for the position, and I was selected as co-advisor, which was last year. When we started the club, we were trying to get everything going such as members, shirts, etc. We had to start fresh, because we had nothing from last year.”

When asked if it was a passion of his to continue on the club, Mr. Nyabeta said, “Yes, it’s always been a passion of mine to help out. That’s why I am always helping kids after school because I want kids to know how fun science can be.”

Mr. Nyabeta mentioned how “some students know they want to go into the medical field but don’t know the process of it when arriving to college.”

He hopes that the club gives students a new mindset of what their field might bring them once they begin their majors.

Mr. Nyabeta spoke about a main priority that he is working on with Dr. Galvez. “A priority is to get the students exposed to these fields,” he said. “To get professionals to talk to us and give advice about how to get on the right path. Another thing I really want to do is have a discussion on what is affecting teenagers that can be solved by biology. We are having discussions about other careers that are not mainstreamed. We are also trying to have people in their career field come and explain their jobs to us.”

When Dr. Galvez stated that the club started from scratch and has grown enormously.
“I think we started on a good note,” Dr. Galvez said. “We have recruiters and lectures lined up. On Nov. 3, we had a director of the Donor Relations from Central Jersey Blood Center come in. Last year we did two blood drives and this year we are organizing even more blood drives. We have three coming up – Dec. 8, Feb. 9 and May 18.”

He finished by telling us that more students showed up towards the end of the year, which shows the interest that has grown for the club over the year.

Asking him if he would want to continue the club, he said, “Definitely we are going to have this going, we are so committed to this. Because we like the responses we get from the students, we like what they tell us. The students are working and the responses are interesting and happy. They have so many questions from the visitors that are coming and they are engaged. Students are so interested and I have students from the hallways asking me if they can still join.”

The only way to be assured for one’s being is to go yourself and witness it on your own. The Future Meds of America meets on Thursdays, every other week, in room S208 after school. For more information, talk to Mr. Nyabeta or Dr. Galvez!