The Brownwood High School HOSA Chapter traveled to Killeen February 6th for the Area V Spring Leadership Conference and continued to make a name for Brownwood in Texas HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America).
The awards ceremony was held Saturday afternoon following the conference, and it began with a few big announcements for Brownwood. First, scholarships were awarded to exceptional HOSA applicants, and students in the Brownwood HOSA Chapter were the proud recipients of 4 of the 6 total scholarships awarded.
Brownwood HOSA students earning scholarships included Marissa Blincoe ($250), Taran Cardenas ($1000), Sherlyn Hogue ($1000), and Brady Taylor ($1250).
The next bit of exciting news for Brownwood HOSA was the announcement that Cooper Donathan, a junior at Brownwood high school, was elected as the new Area V Vice-President.
Event awards were then announced and distributed, further adding to Brownwood HOSA’s celebration. The students qualifying for state in their respective events included: Hannah Angeles (sophomore – 1st place in Veterinary Science), Danna Robertson (senior – 2nd place in Life Support Skills), Trysdee Rollins (freshman – 3rd place in Life Support Skills), Brady Taylor (senior – 2nd place in Medical Math), Karina Garcia (junior – 2nd place in Prepared Speaking), and Madi Mayo (sophomore – 3rd place in Medical Photography).
Additionally, the following Brownwood HOSA members also placed in their events at the conference: Taran Cardenas (senior – 4th place in Biomedical Laboratory Science), Liam McCraw (freshman – 4th place in Medical Law and Ethics), Mattison Churchwell (freshman – 5th place in Human Growth and Development), Lorena Hernandez (senior – 4th place in Nursing Assisting), and Emma Sharpe, Cassi Hall, Kristina Servantez, Courtney Callaway, and Sydney Roberts (5th place in Public Service Announcement).
Finally, 4 junior Brownwood students also qualified for state by placing in the top 10% of the Healthcare Issues Exam.
After returning home with a handful of medals, the Brownwood HOSA Chapter is now preparing for the State HOSA Conference, held in Dallas on April 9-11.
“Area conference was not as intimidating as I thought it would be,” said Karina Garcia, a junior at Brownwood High School. “HOSA has helped me learn that I can accomplish things and reach my goals.”
Both Aaron Philbrick (sophomore) and Marissa Blincoe (senior) had great things to say about the speaker during the first session of the conference. “I really enjoyed the speaker at opening session,” said Philbrick. “He taught me that it is good to know what you want to do in life from the start so you can keep working hard to achieve what you want to be one day.”
“The opening speaker was excellent,” added Blincoe. “I learned from him that it is ok to fail. Everyone is going to fail at one point. Failure is going to happen. But you have to pick yourself up and know that you can learn from it and still reach your goal.”
Brownwood HOSA students have continued to excel at the conferences each year, and many report the improvement in leadership skills that the program offers. Brady Taylor, also a senior at Brownwood high school, said, “I feel that out of all that HOSA has to offer the main thing it has taught me is leadership. Through HOSA I have learned how to speak and how to encourage others to support a cause such as the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, which is HOSA’s National Service Project this year.”
“My event went well,” noted BHS senior, Taran Cardenas. “I have found that attending these events has strengthened my leadership abilities and the ability to act under pressure.”
BHS Health Science teacher and HOSA sponsor, Ann Tew, commented, “I thought it was one of the best area conferences we have had. I was really proud of the success of our younger students.”
“I was so proud of each and every one of our students,” said BHS Health Science teacher and HOSA sponsor, Annalyn Deen. “Not only did they compete well, they also represented the district well while they were there. I feel that every time we go to a conference we learn something new. This will only help us in the years to come as we continue to expand our HOSA chapters here at home.”
Pictured above are BHS HOSA members at the area conference.
Pictured above is Cooper Donathan.
Above are HOSA sponsor Ann Tew, Cooper Donathan, Brady Taylor and HOSA sponsor Annalyn Deen.
