New London High School HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) students competed at the HOSA State Leadership Conference recently held in Wisconsin Dells.
HOSA is a national organization for students interested in the health and medical field. Students can compete in individual projects or tests and teamwork events.
New London participants qualified in the top five for 16 different events with 13 events qualifying for Nationals and 16 students qualifying to attend Nationals. Some students qualified for Nationals in two events and will have to make a choice as to which event they will compete in.
HOSA was started last year as part of the Health and Human Services Academy with 26 students competing; that number increased to 35 students competing this year. They prepare themselves for competition by taking online knowledge tests and studying with new textbooks and online resources. They began getting ready early so they could do a practice competition in front of volunteers with a variety of medical and educational backgrounds.
The volunteers gave the students constructive criticism and advice on how to improve their project. Many students came in to work with advisor Jennifer Doran after school and even after their sports practices on some nights. The following students were winners at the 2015 HOSA State Leadership Conference:
Cassidy Pethke and Tyler Vanden Boogard in Sports Medicine. They spent a lot of time preparing for this event by working with Kim Kandler, New London High School athletic trainer. They worked with Kandler after school and assisted her in taking care of athletes. At the state competition they each had to demonstrate how to tape an ankle. They brought home first and second place respectively.
Muriel Metko, HOSA co-president, entered an event called Researched Persuasive Speaking. She was required to write a research paper and prepare a four minute speech on the selected topic of: Vaccines: Parent Choice? She brought home a second place.
Candice Zehner, HOSA co-president, entered an event called Prepared Speaking. This year’s topic was: LEAD. She was given one word and had to design a speech around that one word. The speech pertained to Zehner as she has demonstrated multiple leadership abilities and the ability to lead many different groups at school and in the community. She brought home a third place.
Maika Vang-Smith, HOSA secretary, participated in Extemporaneous Health Poster. In this event, the student arrives at the event, is given a piece of paper with a topic and some information on it. Then the student has three hours to design a poster. There is no use of electronic devices in this event. This year’s topic was: Bullying. She brought home second place.
Connor Hoell, Metko, and Vanden Boogard competed in the HOSA Bowl. In this event, students competed against another team for a given time period. Questions could be about HOSA history, healthcare, parliamentary procedure, anatomy and physiology, medical terminology and infection to name a few. If they answered more questions correctly in the given time, then they advanced to the next round. They got to play three rounds at HOSA State earning them a fourth place finish.
Tyler Besaw competed in Medical Photography. Last year he earned a fourth place in this event and was determined to not let anyone take a place in front of him this year as he brought home the first place award. He had to take three pictures of medical professionals doing their jobs. He then had to get the photos printed and design a three minute speech about each one. His winning picture happened to be of an OB/GYN physician that had just delivered a baby by cesarean section.
Natalie Degal and Pethke competed in what is called Health Career Display. In this event the students designed a trifold board that explained what a certain career is all about. They chose to do a Radiologist. They made it past the first round, and in the second round they had to give a speech about the job of a radiologist. They practiced a lot and it paid off as they brought home the first place award.
Madeline Schroeder and Ryan Watling competed in a new event that HOSA had to offer this year called Public Health. HOSA chose the topic of: Second-hand Stress. The students then had to design and implement a presentation that would be informative and interactive about second-hand stress. They did their presentation in front of a group of captive high school students who may be just a little stressed out. The high school students were very appreciative. They brought home a second place.
Megan Kronser, Olivia Steingraber and Candice Zehner competed in Community Awareness. In this event, the students must work with the community to carry out a health related awareness campaign. The students called their project: True Beauty and focused on the mental health of middle school girls. They brought home a second place.
Kaylee Schweitzer competed in what is called: Outstanding HOSA Chapter. She created a scrapbook of all the school events and was judged on how it was put together. The school earned a plaque for this event and first place.
Jordyn Bucholtz also earned a third place in a Dental Terminology test and Aaron Yorkson earned fourth place in a Pharmacology Knowledge Test.
Three groups of students competed in Health Education. In this event students prepared interactive lessons for middle school students. They chose a topic that they are passionate about and wanted to teach to younger students. Abby Elsholtz and Molly O’Connell received 1st place, Jordyn Bucholtz and Haley Fuerst received 4th place and Kelsey Van Cuick and Jessica Weyenberg received 5th place. It was great to see New London up on the screen three times in this event!
New London HOSA sponsors include: New London School District, Thedacare of New London, Dr. Lawton Dentistry of New London, and Smiles by Design of Hortonville. With their donations, six students who are all mentioned above were able to compete at state HOSA for free.