Supporting and mentoring students in the Panther Valley School District contributes to every department at St. Luke’s Miners Campus, its president said Wednesday night.

More than two-thirds of the employees graduated from Panther Valley and continue to live in the community, Diana Laquinta told the Panther Valley School Board.

“There’s something special about the kids that graduate from here, that come through Panther Valley, that live in the Panther Valley,” she said, noting the 43-bed rural hospital has PV grads in leadership roles in every department at both the Miners and Carbon campuses.

One of the highlights for St. Luke’s is being able to partner with the school district and its students — the latter being one of the things that she’s most proud of, Laquinta said.

She pointed to 2026 PV alumna Caroline Breslin, who participated in the mentorship scholarship program in which students can shadow professionals in any specialty they want.

“At the end of the program, they write a one-page essay,” Laquinta said. “If they do that, they get a $1,000 scholarship.”

Kerri Gill, a community health liaison at St. Luke’s Miners, pointed out that they have partnered with the school district for the past 12 to 13 years and their primary focus is access to care, chronic disease prevention and mental health.

“One of the newest things that we’re doing this year is a health care exploration class that we’re piloting at the high school. There are 13 students in it,” Gill said, “And it’s going really well.”

Alumni also come in to talk to students about careers in health care, and St. Luke’s also partners with the district on the school-based Panther Valley Food Pantry, which provides access to food to families. They also work with Star Community Health to help those underinsured or uninsured, she said.

“For mental health, we have the YESS! Program,” she said. “That’s an in-school mental health program for the students and staff if they need it.”

Gill also pointed to Shawn Jones, a family development specialist at the high school, who works with families with needs they may have accessing essentials and health services.

“We have a referral process in place for families that might need that kind of assistance,” Gill said.

In the 2025-26 school year, necessities, such as clothing, hygiene and school supplies, made up 27% of the needs of families that sought assistance with food and mental health services both coming in at 18%, according to a chart shown.

Other needs included housing, financial, other and physical health services.

They provided the board with additional information and handouts to help those in their district and community.