BY SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
MERCEDES— Twenty-three South Texas Independent School District students, who are members of the HOSA-Future Health Professionals organization, qualified to compete at the HOSA International Leadership Conference to be held Monday through Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
MERCEDES — Twenty-three South Texas Independent School District students, who are members of the HOSA-Future Health Professionals organization, qualified to compete at the HOSA International Leadership Conference to be held Monday through Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
Participating students from STISD’s South Texas High School for Health Professions (Med High) in Mercedes and South Texas Academy for Medical Professions (Medical Academy) in Olmito qualified for nationals by placing first, second or third in their respective events at state.
STISD had two individuals and teams take first place at the state competition. In the individual categories, Xin Yee Ooi, a recent Med High graduate from Mission, placed first in epidemiology, and Celeste Rocha, a rising MedicalAcademy 12th-grader from Pharr, placed first in personal care.
In the team category from Med High, Alexander Alquiza, a rising 12th-grader from Mission; Nicholas Cauba, a rising 12th-grader from McAllen; Arushi Mathavan, a rising 12th-grader from McAllen; and Nihanna Vega, a rising 10th-grader from Harlingen, placed first in the HOSA Bowl. Also in the team category, from MedicalAcademy, Ericka Salas, a rising 12th-grader from Pharr; and Carolina Lopez, a rising 12th-grader from Brownsville placed first in the forensic science event.
Med High had three students place second in their categories: Maite Cazares of Pharr (life support skills); Lama Abdurrahman, a rising 12th-grader of McAllen (behavioral health); and Erika Mendez, a 2017 graduate of Mission (veterinary science).
Irma Castillo of Weslaco and Sophia Gaitan of Brownsville, both rising Med High 12th-graders, placed second in the health career display team event.
Emmanuel Reyes placed third in life support skills, and Rachel Castillo placed third in speaking skills. Both students are rising Med High 12th-graders from Mission.
John Casison and Erika Mercado of McAllen, Ayo Ogunlana of Mission, Kyle Sapla of Edinburg, and Klay Teegardin and Josephine Tran of Harlingen, placed third in the public service announcement team event. The six team members are all part of the Med High Class of 2017.
In addition to individual and team competitions, Med High has its first endorsed candidate, Jeswin Vennatt of Edinburg, a recent graduate, running for an international officer position. Vennatt was endorsed at the state competition to serve as president-elect, a two-year commitment, if elected.
Med High and Medical Academy are two of four high schools in STISD, a magnet school district serving students from Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties. These state- and nationally recognized campuses offer rigorous courses focusing on college preparation, and the health and medical professions. For additional information, please visit www.stisd.net.
HOSA is an international student organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education (HSE) Division of Association for Career and Technical Education. HOSA’s two-fold mission is to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people. HOSA’s goal is to encourage all health science instructors and students to join and be actively involved in the HSE-HOSA partnership.
