OCHS senior Ella Crowe shows off her medal after she won in nurse assisting at the HOSA Conference last month in Atlanta. She plans to attend the International Leadership Conference in Houston in June. (Submitted Photo)
Oglethorpe County High School senior Ella Crowe won a competition for nurse assisting at the Georgia HOSA conference last month.
After a qualifying test in January, the event narrowed to 10 students, who collected vital signs, including taking blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respirations on a person.
“It was a bit nerve wracking, but it was fun,” Crowe said.
She plans to attend HOSA’s International Leadership Conference in Houston in June.
The competition was held Feb. 29-March 2 at The Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, where an estimated 5,000 Georgia high school students attended more than 75 events involving health care and health science occupations.
Of the 19 OCHS students who competed, 14 of them placed in the top 10 for their respective categories, including seniors Makayla Smith and Kelsie Wolfe, who were second in EMT, and senior Mary Heather Ash, who was third in personal care.
Erin Bunch has taught health care science classes for nine years and has helped the Career Technical Student Organizations club, which allows students to enter the HOSA conference each year.
“It is a great networking opportunity for the students and for the teachers and judges,” Bunch said. “I think it prepares them for the next step. They are really professional.”
HOSA formed in 1976 as a way to train students for careers in the health science field and expanded across the country. Georgia HOSA started in 2000.
Jason Lewis, an EMT teacher at OCHS and the Oglethorpe County EMS director, has seen many students come out of the health care science and EMT program and begin careers in hospitals and in the health care field.
“It seems like we are feeding somebody because Piedmont ER (in Athens) is full of Oglethorpe nurses,” Lewis said. “We have got ambulance providers in Athens, Wilkes, Elbert and here that came from this program.”
Students often commit to the program while still at OCHS.
Crowe is the CTSO club chapter president this year and has helped organize community service events and assist with blood drives. She’s been in the program throughout her time at OCHS.
She placed fourth in medical assisting and her sister, Anna Crowe, won for EMT at the HOSA conference last year.
“There are few kids, like Ella, that stick out, that will always stick out, no matter how many groups you have in here,” Lewis said.
Crowe other seniors who placed in the HOSA conference will graduate in May, new students will move up in the program.
“Every year, I think I can’t love the next group as much as I love the current one, and then I always love the next group, too,” Bunch said. “Each year, there is something special and unique about them, but every year has been good.”