West Aurora HOSA students shine at state conference
Submitted by West Aurora Unit District 129
The Health Occupations Students of America students from West Aurora High School earned 20 state championships recently at the state leadership conference.
In all, 33 West Aurora students were national qualifiers; seven were elected to state offices and 102 finished in the top 10 in the state.
HOSA chapters are dedicated to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for students whose career interest is health science technology.
First-place winners from West Aurora are Jose Morales, Dental Spelling; Denissa Sarbu, Nurse Assisting; Wendy Valerio and Almira Fajardo, CERT Skills; Emily Brown and Haley Henry, EMT; Denise Bonifacio, Extemporaneous Health Poster; Zoey Aldridge, Extemporaneous Speaking; Daniela Hernandez, Interviewing Skills; Tesha Knox, Jazmine Velazquez, Diamond Ellis and Demi Heiss, Biomedical Debate; Nerissa Vogt, Jenn Vargas, Meriah Quintanilla and Nicole Bednarek, Creative Problem Solving; and Samia Elgindy, Angel Juarez and Kristal Diaz, Public Service Announcement.
Other national qualifiers (top three) from West Aurora were Bailey Lewis, Nicole Bednarek, Patty Robles, Stephanie Ortega, Tanzania Mongan, Samia Elgindy, Jazmine Velazquez, Maria Hernandez, Tyler Thomas, Katrina Keilty, Chandler Thomas, Gavy Baltierra and Torie Paden.
The 2013-14 HOSA state officers from West Aurora are Maria Hernandez, president; Maddie Lindberg, vice president; Diamond Ellis, secretary; Jazmine Velazquez, treasurer; Leah Spears, Sentinel; Airianna Quintanilla, Parliamentarian; and Ricky Torres, member-at-large.
The Health Sciences Career Academy teachers are April Sonnefeldt, Jen Furuglyas, Bob Lundquist and Carla Herdrich.