Lakeside students travel to conference

From March 1-3, nine Lakeside High School students competed in the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) state conference at the Classic Center in Athens. There were 1,080 health care science students competing in various medical events.

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Amanda Carter and Rhonda Dunn, both registered nurses, are the instructors from Lakeside. Out of the nine students from Lakeside who entered contests, six came home with medals, scholarships or state office.

Sonal Mistry won the silver medal for Researched Persuasive Speaking on stem cell research.

Komal Bora won a $1,000 scholarship from Children's Hospital in Atlanta. Bora, a co-president of HOSA at Lakeside, was among 30 applicants for two such scholarships given by the hospital.

Elise Dewey's pin design won the silver medal and was among 18 designs submitted by students from other parts of the state. Dewey's design featured a stethoscope whose bell represented the HOSA symbol and descended into the "o" in Georgia. State pins are traded among students from all over the country during HOSA's national conference each year.

Angela Lozano campaigned for two days for Region 1 vice president for Georgia HOSA, and she presented her platform statement to the entire conference.

Dunn said Lozano is usually a soft-spoken person, but when she stepped to the podium, she said she captured the audience's attention with confidence.

A research paper was submitted and a speech given for the contest, Carter said. A panel of judges evaluates both.

Candidates are elected by voting delegates from the schools represented at the conference.

Angie Bush, a co-president of LHS HOSA, competed last year and won the Researched Persuasive Speaking contest. This year she entered a skills contest - Nurse Assisting.

All of the "clinical" students get certification in nurse assisting in their class, so Bush has worked toward this goal since August. She also practiced skills in the classroom lab and at her clinical sites at Doctors Hospital.

There were approximately 60 students competing in this contest, which began with a written test. Only the top 5 percent make it to the skills rounds, which were held at MCG's school of nursing in Athens.

Laura Vernon decided to compete in Veterinarian Assisting early this school year. Dunn, Vernon's clinical instructor, said Vernon's preparation for this competition included three rotations in veterinarian hospitals/clinics during her two-hour healthcare science class.

Vernon was able to observe and gain hands-on experience from St. Francis Animal Hospital, Care More Animal Hospital and Acute Care Veterinarian Clinic.

The students are preparing for the national competition, which will be held in Orlando in June.