Many new things are introduced to the school year after year. One of which is Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA). HOSA is a club run by Emily Veer, health CTE teacher, and Madeline Belcher, health teacher.
“HOSA is a really cool opportunity for students to get involved in a professional organization while they are still in high school,” said Belcher. “Any student that is interested in, and potentially going into a healthcare career, it’s a great opportunity for them to get involved with like-minded individuals.”
The club is just getting started and is working one step at a time.
“We are just working on fundraising money right now, since the club just started this year. But later on in November we will be running the blood drive, and I believe next semester we will have another project that we’re going to do. It’s not set in stone yet,” Lila Crawford, 12, said.
Crawford is planning on becoming a traveling nurse practitioner and the club gives them, and other students, a space to learn more about careers that interest them.
“We have a lot of healthcare based classes but we don’t have any extracurriculars to get more of that experience… I’m happy that they are highlighting careers during meetings so people can understand different healthcare careers better,” Crawford said.
Even though the club is still in its beginning stages, both teachers and students alike are excited for what is to come.
“I kind of want to get into physical therapy so I was hoping that they would help me with that; just figure out more. [I hope] for more people to join and expand throughout the years,” Cory Kirchner, 9, said.
There are many ways HOSA can expand other than the number of members.
“I hope that we can go to really big competitions. There are different conferences too, so I hope every year we get to take students to conferences. I hope we can present at some of these conferences someday. I have big hopes and dreams for HOSA,” Belcher said.
As the school continues to evolve, new clubs may be introduced; this opens up opportunities for different student interests to be included within the school.
This year the blood drive is hosted by HOSA with the American Red Cross; it takes place on Monday, Nov. 6.
