West Ashley High School’s Health Occupation Student Association (HOSA) team competed in the South Carolina Health Occupations Students of America State Leadership Conference. The conference took place at the North Charleston Convention Center where 1,400 students from all over the state competed in a total of 133 events. Wando, James Island, and Charleston Charter School for Math & Science were a few of the schools who competed from Charleston County.
West Ashley High senior Mary Johnson placed first on the Behavioral Health Knowledge Test. “Obviously I’m thrilled with Mary’s performance,” said Melissa Sparks, West Ashley High Health Science teacher and HOSA Club sponsor. “She did exceptionally in our state competition and now she will get the opportunity to represent West Ashley on the International Stage at the HOSA International Leadership Conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in June.”
A total of ten students from WAHS competed in six different categories. Ashley Duke, Keely Barton, Theo McLaughlin, and Laniya Correya competed in Medical Terminology Knowledge; Edith Mendoza competed in Dental Terminology Knowledge; Jasmine Lloyd competed in Medical Reading; Dazia Chandler competed in Sports Medicine; Mary Johnson competed in Behavioral Health Knowledge; and Olivia Brazelton and Alex Ryan competed in the Health Career Display Event.
Most students trained independently to prepare for the competition with the exception of Chandler. She worked closely with Kristen LaSeta, West Ashley High Sports Medicine teacher and Physical Therapist, to prepare for the demonstration portion of her event. Senior Laniya Correya was recognized as HOSA’s Outstanding Member because of her participation in the events and activities of West Ashley High’s HOSA Club.
Sparks was incredibly proud of the West Ashley High HOSA students who competed at the conference. “With it being our first year competing, I think that all of our competitors did outstanding work and represented the very best of West Ashley,” said Sparks. “I’m proud of all of our students who competed and I’m very proud that our students attended many educational sessions and supported other students around the state as well as our West Ashley team.”
