Kate Morris

Learning Life In order to dive into the health pathway, students learn about different aspects of human biology and development on Wednesday, March 5 in their Principles of Helath Secience class. Health Occupation Students of America [HOSA] is a program linked to the pathway that allows studnents to dive deeper into the knowledge they aquire in their courses. “My freshman year I joined the heallth pathway and I didn’t really know what [HOSA] was,” senior HOSA president Caroline Pruett said. “Being in it the last four years I’ve realized there are a lot of opportunities.” Photo by Kate Morris

Through an online fundraising program, Health Occupation Students of America members are raising money for the health program by selling popcorn during the first week of March.

“The one I did in the fall, which was the first aid kits, it was successful, but this one’s gonna be better ’cause it’s more simple,” HOSA teacher Tiffany McBride said. “The stuff gets delivered to your house [so] it’s not something you have to come pick up and then deliver to whoever bought it.”

The simplicity of the fundraiser is not only noticed by the teachers but by the students as well. Freshman representative Isabella Silva recognizes that it’s “an easier situation in order to get the money needed for [the] fundraising for HOSA.”

“I think it’s really fun,” senior president Caroline Pruett said. “We have a leaderboard so you can see who’s selling the most. They send those out everyday to [show] who’s in the lead so everyone can watch.”

This fundraiser holds high importance to the health program as a whole since it helps raise money for their field trips, group events and teacher activities.

“I did a competition this year,” Silva said. “My prompt was Powered by People, so I learned how many people work together in health science.”

All the activities within the HOSA program, according to McBride, “challenge [students] outside of what they’re learning in class.”

“It has opened doors for me for a lot of different pathways,” Pruett said. “I didn’t know there were so many jobs in the health field so because of HOSA I know more about a lot of other careers.”

HOSA changes up its fundraisers for the fall and spring, making varying amounts from each of them, with every dollar they make going into providing more student experiences.

“I really like health science and I always see myself going in the health career,” Silva said. “[So] to be a part of a group where everyone has a similar interest in health science and there’s many opportunities you can do to hang out, go to the nursing homes, making stuff for the teachers, and it’s really fun to do that.”