A new club is entering the extracurricular field at the high school, HOSA. HOSA stands for Health Occupations Students of America and is run by Biology teacher Kelsey Brentnall.

Brentnall has taught Biology for two years and also teaches the Dynamics of Health Care elective.

The club aims to help students who want to go into the medical science field as adults. The purpose is to understand, experiment, learn, and prepare for medical school or other positions in the health industry. 

“We talk about the different careers in the medical world, the qualifications and standards for those careers and as well as the education requirements,” Brentnall said of HOSA meetings. “We discuss the different workplace and professional skills you need, and we discuss things that are really applicable whether you are going to be a dentist or an occupational therapist.”

Last year, former high school science teacher Adina Cazaban, started HOSA. However, it wasn’t active enough to meet the goals that Brentnall finds to be the most important.

The primary goals of HOSA are to promote physical, mental and social well being, to develop effective leadership qualities and skills, to build self-confidence and pride in one’s work, and much more.

Aside from its goals, the club also sports a Competitive Events Program. Students take tests and perform their knowledge in a certain field in the medical industry. They compete against other schools in front of judges and the goal is to advance all the way to Nationals.

The club gets prepared for college because it enhances many core values that ensure success including acts of leadership, integrity, innovation, and learning in general.

The club welcomes all people who are interested in obtaining knowledge or further advancing their knowledge about the medical arena and industry.

“It doesn’t have to be someone that’s interested in going into the healthcare profession and could just be someone who wants to learn more about that, or just wants to volunteer their time, or is interested in community service,” Brentnall said.

Overall, the club is a great way for students interested in health and medicine to get a head start in learning and participating in the medical field and getting the chance to compete in competitions and events against other schools country-wide further advancing both public speaking and competitive skills.