On February 29th, a few of Heritage’s HOSA members went down to Atlanta to compete in a statewide HOSA competition. Some of the categories that the HOSA members competed in were Phlebotomy, Anatomy, Forensics, and Behavioral Health. They were down there for three days, and on March 2nd competed and placed in several categories. Seniors Avah Morrison and Haley Wyer placed third in Forensic Science, senior Vinesah Goodwin third in Phlebotomy, senior Grant Wilson fourth in Phlebotomy. Alexis Faulkenberry, senior, made it to the second round in Phlebotomy but got knocked out in the finals and the anatomy team placed eighth in a tournament of over 16 teams.
To prepare for the competition the HOSA team studied through books recommended by HOSA, played practice games such as Quizlets, and studied their vocabulary. They also went to Mr. Johnston, the Forensics Science teacher here at Heritage, and asked him for advice on different exercises, such as writing up crime scene reports. Anna Gayler, a senior and member of the Anatomy team, said, “It was a really good time. I enjoy competing. I felt very prepared because I’m in Anatomy right now. So, a lot of the stuff they asked me I already knew from clasps.”
During their stay in Atlanta, the HOSA organization stayed at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. When the students weren’t competing you could find them dancing, playing board games, going to college booths for free things, and socializing with students from other schools. For the actual competition, students had to answer questions about their topic before the one hour timer ran out, for some of the categories students had a more hands-on experience, like the kids competing in forensics science who had ten minutes to analyze a mock crime scene.
While Heritage’s HOSA students didn’t place in every category in which they competed, the team members still felt as if this was a very good year for them. Georgia King, a junior who competed in Behavioral Health, said, “I’ve been competing for three years [now.] I’ve been competing since I was a freshman but I think this is the first year we had so many people pass the first exam. I don’t know what I placed, but we had a really successful trip. Probably one of the most successful trips.”
Since Wyer, Morrison, and Goodwin placed so highly at the State competition, they have been invited to Nationals which would be held in Houston, Texas, if they choose to go. All in all, it was an extremely successful trip for Heritage’s HOSA organization.
