James Clemens HOSA cinches wins at state conference

MADISON – James Clemens High School students aspiring to work in health fields demonstrated their training at the HOSA State Leadership Conference in Montgomery.

The conference attracted 1,793 students in grades 9-12 from 137 chapters. The Future Health Professionals organization still uses its former acronym, HOSA (which represented “Health Occupations Students of America”).

“I’m beyond proud of all our students’ accomplishments at our HOSA State Leadership Conference!” Ashley H. Steinert said. “All of these students put in countless hours of preparation for this conference, and all of their hard work paid off.” A registered nurse, Steinert teaches health science and is Co-Adviser of HOSA and National Technical Honor Society.

James Clemens HOSA earned 11 Gold Medals, seven Silver Medals and seven Bronze Medals. Nine students placed in fourth through sixth place. The following list includes winning students, competition category and place win:

* Pari Motivaras — Behavioral Health, second.

* Carter Gjesvold — Cultural Diversities and Disparities, fourth-sixth.

* Human Growth and Development — Ife Ayileka, fourth-sixth.

* Medical Law and Ethics — Bhavya Chalasani, third.

* Medical Math — Neyan Sezhian, first; Erik Wu, third.

* Medical Terminology — Manasa Vadapalli, second; Oviya Gowder and Amnha Minhas, fourth-sixth.

* Nutrition — Angela Ai, first; Abdullah Shaikh, third; Riya Naphade and Abi Emani, fourth-sixth.

* Physical Therapy — Jayda Yamaguchi, fourth-sixth.

* Veterinary Science — Ethan Xu, fourth-sixth.

* Epidemiology — Aasim Musani, first; Renee Drayton, second; Carlin Chaco, third. (These wins were the first sweep in school history.)

* Biomedical Debate — Bryan Preer, Justin He, Jaxon Yamaguchi and A.K. Dubey, first.

* Creative Problem Solving — Bianca Litavic, Sachi Ramachandran, Shaivi Pandey and Vashaili Ojha, first; Abby Kulkarni, Shreya Sunil, Punarvi Mandadapu and Sohail Baig, second; Ava Penland, Esther Jung and Khushi Patel, third. (These wins were the second sweep in school history.)

* Forensic Science — Nishtha Gupta and Elizabeth Swaine, fourth-sixth.

Judges work as healthcare professionals and college professors from Health Science programs across Alabama.

The HOSA competition does not resemble a science fair. Students competed in an event, based on their own personal interests and future health professional goals. Officials categorized events as health science, health professions, emergency preparedness, leadership and teamwork.

Students who placed in the top 3 in the state were invited to compete at HOSA International Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas this summer.

“All of these students exhibit the qualities of successful, future healthcare professionals in today’s society,” Steinert said.