When people in Galesburg talk about health care, they often picture a local hospital or the clinics across town. But for thousands of students in District 205, their first encounter with a nurse happens not in an exam room but down the hall at school. And for more than two decades, the steady presence behind that care has often been Lorie Larsen.

Lorie’s nursing career spans more than 40 years, beginning in coronary care and intensive care units where she honed the skill and calm required in high-stakes medicine. In 2003, she stepped into District 205 as a school nurse assigned to the high school. “At that time, there were four of us covering the district,” she recalls. “If someone was out, we all just floated where needed.” For 12 years, she was the face of nursing at Galesburg High School, tending to everything from asthma flare-ups to playground sprains — and offering reassurance to countless worried parents on the phone.

In 2015, opportunity knocked in a surprising way. The director of the Galesburg Area Vocational Center (GAVC) asked her to consider teaching in the Certified Nursing Assistant program. At first, she hesitated. “I thought, I’m a nurse, not a teacher. But then I realized how incredible it was to be shaping the next generation of caregivers,” she says. Within a few years, Lorie had found a second calling.

That program, now bursting at the seams, has become one of GAVC’s crown jewels. “We’ve had waiting lists of 70 or more students,” Lorie explains. Admission requires not just good grades and attendance but also strong character — because students spend time in care facilities with elderly residents. “They need to be ready for the responsibility. And when they succeed, it’s amazing to watch doors open for them.”

The Certified Nursing Assistant credential, once optional, is now a prerequisite for Carl Sandburg College’s LPN and RN programs, making the GAVC class a launchpad for students across the region. “I’ve had graduates discover that their CNA status puts them at the top of the list when applying to colleges. It’s life-changing,” she says. District 205 covers tuition for its students, an investment Lorie never tires of reminding them is a “fabulous opportunity.”

After briefly retiring in 2023 to travel with her daughter, Ellen — a University of Iowa fundraiser and licensed pilot — Lorie found herself pulled back into the work she loved. “I wanted flexibility to see the world with Ellen,” she admits. Their trips have taken them to the Pacific Northwest, the Canadian Rockies, and beyond. But the district came calling when the Health Services Coordinator position opened. With her professional educator license and decades of experience, Lorie was uniquely positioned to step back in.

Today, she splits her time: part classroom instructor, part administrative leader, and part safety net for the district’s network of school nurses. “We now have a nurse in every building, which is fabulous,” she says. “Most are LPNs, but I’m the RN who consults, supports, and handles state reporting, IEPs, and 504s. I’m also assigned to Bright Futures, our preschool, where we even have a three-year-old student managing diabetes.”

Yet for all the paperwork and policy, Lorie still treasures the softer side of nursing — the comfort of simply being there. “The school nurse’s office is a safe place to land,” she says. Sometimes it’s asthma or a concussion, sometimes just blue hands from new jeans that sent a child into panic. And sometimes it’s emotional. “There are students who just need a break from the day, a reassuring smile, a reminder that they’re okay. That matters as much as any prescription.”

Her life outside school is equally full. Lorie has returned to her love of theater, recently starring as the lead in a community production — something full-time work never allowed. “It really is the best of both worlds,” she says. “I get to keep teaching and supporting students, but also travel and perform.”

For District 205, her presence is more than professional expertise. It’s continuity, compassion, and proof that nursing is as much about heart as it is about skill. She knows firsthand the comfort parents feel when a nurse calls to say, “Your child is going to be okay.” She knows the pride of watching students become health care professionals. And she knows the importance of balance, of modeling a life where science and the arts, work and family, care and joy all find a place.

“I wasn’t ready to be done,” she says simply. And for the students and families of Galesburg 205, that’s very good news indeed.