Added: 02-19-10
In the best of health
On Jan. 29-30 the Westlake Health Occupations Students of America club attended the Area competition for school HOSA organizations in the Austin and San Antonio region. Students participated in medical related, hands-on events such as biotechnology, clinical nursing and even a medical spelling bee.
“We had 26 students show up to compete,” HOSA sponsor Jackie Uselton said. “Since this is Westlake’s first year to take a large group to competition, everyone was new at this. They didn’t know what to expect. But we have really smart kids, so I knew they could definitely compete. I’m really surprised at how many are going to State.”
Some of the competitions did not require students to travel to Burnet High School; instead they took a test online to try to qualify for State. Three students found out they had made it to State in December, and after the Area competition, a total of nine students qualified. Students who had never been in HOSA before were nervous.
“It was kind of scary at first because I didn’t know what to expect,” sophomore Alice Alexander said. “But once I got comfortable I had a great time.”
While HOSA is a national organization dedicated to preparing students for the medical field, the Westlake club is also partially a social group. The trip to the competition was a group bonding experience; students spent two days together in Burnet.
“It was really fun,” junior Joell Chen said. “We got to meet HOSA members we didn’t know before. Since I’m not in Health Science Technology, I didn’t know anyone before we went to the competition.”
The State competition will take place in Houston April 15-17. There are seven areas in Texas, so there will be about 21 competitors in each event.
“Texas State HOSA is equivalent to going to Nationals because Texas is such a big state,” Uselton said. “There are more competitors in our State competition than in Nationals. If you make it past State in Texas, you have a good chance of winning at Nationals. A large percentage of the top three places at Nationals are from Texas.”
Because of this, students will be studying hard for their subjects. According to Uselton, most of their studying will be done at home, since for many of the competitions, the only way to prepare is to read a textbook.
“I’m on the medical reading team for HOSA, and to prepare for the State competition, my group and I are planning to make a giant review and meet every week,” sophomore Adrian Almanza said. “We have to reread and meticulously study five medical novels.”
Advancing to State:
Adrian Almanza, Charlotte Brown, and Bryan Luu—2nd place Medical Reading Team
Joell Chen—2nd place Biotechnology
James Crowley—2nd place Dental Terminology
Julie Dorland—2nd place Human Growth and Development
Kristen Mele—3rd place Medical Photography
Naushin Prasla-1st place Health Career Poster and Kaiser Permanente Health Care Issues Exam finalist
Michelle Ross—2nd place Extemporaneous Writing
Alternates to State:
Natsuki Hara and Avery Talkington—4th place Health Career Display
Zoe Pierce—4th place Extemporaneous Speaking
“We had 26 students show up to compete,” HOSA sponsor Jackie Uselton said. “Since this is Westlake’s first year to take a large group to competition, everyone was new at this. They didn’t know what to expect. But we have really smart kids, so I knew they could definitely compete. I’m really surprised at how many are going to State.”
Some of the competitions did not require students to travel to Burnet High School; instead they took a test online to try to qualify for State. Three students found out they had made it to State in December, and after the Area competition, a total of nine students qualified. Students who had never been in HOSA before were nervous.
“It was kind of scary at first because I didn’t know what to expect,” sophomore Alice Alexander said. “But once I got comfortable I had a great time.”
While HOSA is a national organization dedicated to preparing students for the medical field, the Westlake club is also partially a social group. The trip to the competition was a group bonding experience; students spent two days together in Burnet.
“It was really fun,” junior Joell Chen said. “We got to meet HOSA members we didn’t know before. Since I’m not in Health Science Technology, I didn’t know anyone before we went to the competition.”
The State competition will take place in Houston April 15-17. There are seven areas in Texas, so there will be about 21 competitors in each event.
“Texas State HOSA is equivalent to going to Nationals because Texas is such a big state,” Uselton said. “There are more competitors in our State competition than in Nationals. If you make it past State in Texas, you have a good chance of winning at Nationals. A large percentage of the top three places at Nationals are from Texas.”
Because of this, students will be studying hard for their subjects. According to Uselton, most of their studying will be done at home, since for many of the competitions, the only way to prepare is to read a textbook.
“I’m on the medical reading team for HOSA, and to prepare for the State competition, my group and I are planning to make a giant review and meet every week,” sophomore Adrian Almanza said. “We have to reread and meticulously study five medical novels.”
Advancing to State:
Adrian Almanza, Charlotte Brown, and Bryan Luu—2nd place Medical Reading Team
Joell Chen—2nd place Biotechnology
James Crowley—2nd place Dental Terminology
Julie Dorland—2nd place Human Growth and Development
Kristen Mele—3rd place Medical Photography
Naushin Prasla-1st place Health Career Poster and Kaiser Permanente Health Care Issues Exam finalist
Michelle Ross—2nd place Extemporaneous Writing
Alternates to State:
Natsuki Hara and Avery Talkington—4th place Health Career Display
Zoe Pierce—4th place Extemporaneous Speaking