Students take first at HOSA regional competition

Senior Reinaldo Alers placed first in the Pathophysiology category for the HOSA Regional Competition in Deltona on Feb. 2 and, as a result, will travel with three other West Shore students to compete out of state.

“I took a test online which was kind of hard,” Alers said. “I honestly didn’t expect to place.”

Club members first took an online test in January for the category. If the test scores were high enough, they moved on to compete in Deltona.

“The competition was kind of boring, but there was like 12 schools there,” Alers said.

West Shore competed against Edgewood, Melbourne High, Viera High and other schools in Brevard County.

“They took the top three from each category and chose them for state,” sponsor Maggie Molledo said. “We took six kids and four of them got first place.”

Molledo said students in the HOSA club have prepared for the requirements to compete. Although, club members were not prepared as expected.

“I had no idea what we were doing,” Alers said. “None of us did, and I felt pretty great about getting first.”

Alers received a first place ribbon, and career-wise, he wants to be a medical examiner.

HOSA stands for Health Occupation Student Association and is a new club for students interested in the health field. Club members work throughout the year studying and preparing for competitions.

“That’s the first phase, is learning,” Molledo said. “The second phase is what they can do for the school.”

The HOSA club is trying to get CPR certification on campus. They would sponsor this and have students get certified without having to pay more money from private instructors to perform CPR.

By Laura Shelton