Exactly a week ago, Jarrica Kirkpatrick and I (Troy Weaver) took 15 members of our CA Chapter of HOSA-Future Health Professionals (formerly Health Occupations Students of America) who qualified to participate at the State Leadership Conference (SLC) in Charlotte.  In fact, this time last week, HOSA was invited to take in an NBA game and we watched the Charlotte Hornets battled the Miami Heat!  The next day we prepared for our own battles as competition was steep…there were a couple hundred schools from around the state and several thousand students (filling 6 hotels in downtown Charlotte!) who aspire to careers in the medical/health sciences!  

Of the 15 students who participated, 3 sat for knowledge tests whose results were not revealed until Saturday morning’s closing awards ceremony. The remaining 12 sat for a Round One exam last Thursday and had to wait to learn whether they’d advance to Friday’s Round Two for practical and skills assessment.  The results, all 12 advanced to Round Two,  with eleven of  them earning “Top Ten” in our state! Here are final placements by competitive event:

• Biomedical Debate (4^th  Place) – Sarah Hallman, Nikki Tehrani, Angelina Chen, Anisha Rustogi
• Biomedical Debate (7^th Place) – Salma Said, RJ Jain, Ian Washabaugh
• CERT (Critical Emergency Response Team) Skills (8th Place) – Cindy Li and Christianna Swift  
• Epidemiology (1st Place) – Eric Wang
• Pharmacology (3rd Place) – Liya Chen

While Eric and Liya’s “Top 3” placements automatically qualify them for the International Leadership Conference (ILC), it is quite possible that those in Biomedical Debate and CERT Skills would have the opportunity to attend ILC in Orlando in June!  HOSA Chapter Advisors have been given until Friday evening, March 15^th to code the intent of any students who placed in the “Top Ten.”  Coding your intent means that if a higher finishing individual/team is unable to attend ILC, NC HOSA will open up that event to the next individual(s) on the “Top Ten” spreadsheet. Last year, there were events that went as deep as “9” that ended up representing NC and competing at ILC in Dallas! 

SPECIAL NOTES: 

• Jillian Rokuskie made it to Round Two in Clinical nursing…a very competitive field in a popular event!
• Sarah, Nikki, Angelina and Anisha were competing in their first-ever SLC and had to compete against our second CA team, including veterans Salma and RJ (who represented CA and NC at the Dallas ILC last year!)
• Cindy and Christianna made it to Round Two for the second year in a row, but this time they placed in the “Top Ten!”
• Liya placed “3^rd” in her very first SLC, and was in a very competitive field with perennial powerhouses from across the state!
• Eric placed “1^st” in extemporaneous writing at our District Leadership Conference last fall and automatically qualified for this event at States, but he opted to pursue a greater challenge with his interest in epidemiology and diligently prepared for this event, finishing “1^st” again!
• Our student represented us well! They were competing against students who attend specialized/magnet high schools that have classes and clinicals in medical and health science fields!

Guest Post by
Troy K. Weaver, Biology Teacher, Upper School Science