Brownwood High School HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) students competed at the Area HOSA Spring Leadership Conference in Lubbock, Texas on February 1st and 2nd. A total of 36 students competed in a wide variety of events and 16 students qualified for the upcoming state competition.
“Early in December local HOSA students were preparing for special events ranging from dental spelling and nursing assisting, to forensic science and public service announcement, to name a few,” said Brownwood High School health science teacher, Annalyn Deen. “After passing the district online test, these students began preparing to compete at the area conference.”
The students competed in several events at the area competition including, Researched Persuasive Speaking, Dental Spelling, Medical Spelling, Forensic Science, Prepared Speaking, Public Service Announcement, Clinical Specialty, HOSA Bowl, Sports Medicine, Home Health Aide, Nursing Assisting, Dental Science, EMT, and Extemporaneous Health Poster.
“We have enjoyed success in the few years that HOSA has existed at Brownwood High School, however, this is by far the largest number of participants to make it to the state level,” said Deen. “Our area has seven magnet schools in it and stretches from Brownwood to El Paso. This is the first year we were able to not only compete, but beat many of those magnet schools.”
The following students qualified for state at the area conference:
Sherlyn Hogue – Research Persuasive Speaking – 1st
Priscilla Rodriguez – Clinical Specialty – 1st
Taran Cardenas and Jensen Limer – Forensic Science- 2nd
Amelia Collins – Medical Reading – 2nd
Brandon Garcia – Dental Spelling – 2nd
Allison Aguirre – Dental Spelling – 3rd
Brady Taylor – Medical Math – 3rd
Jordyn Senkirik, Steven Arceneaux, Connor Vara, and Garrett Barnum – Public Service Announcement – 3rd
Steven Arceneaux, Dillon Cox, Alex Hernandez, Gabriella Cox, and Mark Johnson – Health Care Issues Exam – Top 10%
In addition, Alex Hernandez, BHS HOSA chapter president, was selected as one of two recipients of a $2,500 Area HOSA scholarship. “We were elated, to say the least,” added Deen. Ann Tew, health science technology teacher at Brownwood High School said, “This was a really good year for us. We continue making HOSA history every year.”
The team’s success is a testimony to the quality and growth of the high school Health Science Technology department. Tew was the first instructor in the program that started around three years ago. Due to the increasing student interest, there was a need for another instructor, and Deen joined program.
The group will be traveling to Galveston for the state competition April 11th-13th. “We are so proud of each and every one of our students,” said Deen. “They have worked hard and put in the effort to make it to state. These events are preparing them for future health professions which they will one day seek. Our plan is to qualify as many students as possible so we can attend the National HOSA conference for the second year in a row.”
Pictured at top: All BHS HOSA Area Competitors dressed in HOSA attire.
Above: Local BHS HOSA officers that competed at the area competition. Connor Vara, Allison Aguirre, Alex Hernandez, Aime Hogue, Candace Rodriguez, and Priscilla Rodriguez
Above: BHS HOSA Dental Spelling Competitors, (from left) Allison Aguirre, Alyson Finnigan, Brandon Garcia
Above: BHS student, Alex Hernandez, holds his $2,500 Area HOSA Scholarship award.
