Community School grad Ava Munizza jumps into career helping others

Ava Munizza is graduating from The Community School, and rather than now turning toward figuring out what she wants to do with her life, she’s already employed – and doing it.

In her junior year she enrolled in the pre-nursing program at the New Tech Skill Center and has gone on to earn her certified nursing assistant (CNA) credentials. She has been working as a CNA at a nursing home/rehabilitation center for many months now.

“I really didn’t know I wanted to be a nurse until last year,” said Munizza. “I had been leaning toward physical therapy, but when I did clinical work along with a CNA for six weeks, I found I loved it.”

What it’s all about for her is being there and taking care of people – and their families – when they need it, especially in a health care setting. She is aware of how important that is during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Munizza grew up with her parents in a rural area outside Newport, Washington, near Diamond Lake, where she and her younger sister were homeschooled until it was time for high school. It was then that the family moved to Spokane, and Munizza began classes at The Community School, part of the Spokane Public Schools. Ashlee King, school counselor, explained that the curriculum is project based, and all subjects are integrated into the study of real-world matters.

Munizza said she has struggled with dyslexia throughout her life. She enjoys reading but has had a hard time, especially with writing and math. Visual therapy and other work have helped her manage the condition, but dyslexia has certainly made her have to work harder to learn and to achieve, she said.

She remembers hearing stories from her grandmother, who is a nurse, about how much it meant to her to take care of her patients. Even with that in the background, Munizza said it’s perhaps her father’s situation that helped crystallize for her the path she wants to follow in life. Her father has had many hospitalizations and has received two kidney transplants. He is awaiting a third.

Theirs is a close-knit family, often taking road trips together, which over the course of her growing-up years have included visiting about half the states in the nation and as many national parks as possible along the way (the cliff dwellings in Utah are her favorite). “I’ve learned so much about the country and about many different people,” she said. Rock climbing, snowboarding and camping are among her favorite outdoor activities.

Her focus remains on health care. She is currently working with patients who have tracheotomies, providing care for them. “When I help someone, it really makes me happy,” she added.

As for the future, she expects to pursue additional education in health care – possibly pursuing an RN degree or working in criminal justice. And she hasn’t totally ruled out physical therapy just yet.

“Ava is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met,” said King, her school counselor. “I think it really speaks to who she is, that she’s gotten her CNA at age 18 and in this COVID environment is doing what she’s doing, which is working in the medical field, helping people.”