The Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) organization has returned to the high school after 15 years. HOSA’s goal is to provide opportunities and healthcare knowledge to further educate students on meeting the needs of the health care community. 

“I’m beyond excited to have HOSA back after 15 years,” senior vice president Hailey Crites said. “We fell in love with the idea of having something that would be similar in a way to FFA but geared towards the medical field.” 

HOSA will hold a bake sale fundraiser at Badger Field Friday during the home football game to raise money for the HOSA bank account for events and conventions.

“We will have a variety of delicious baked goodies, some of which will be decorated for fall, others for breast cancer awareness, and some that contain pecans and peanuts,” Crites said. “For this event, we all want to represent our football boys and HOSA, so we will wear our royal blue scrubs. Our goal is to raise enough money that will help us prepare to start a fundraiser, help us get to competitions, and reach out into the community in hopes of picking up a few sponsors.” 

HOSA is a nationally recognized organization, and members have opportunities to receive scholarships and attend conventions for competitions. 

“I joined HOSA because I saw it as a good step forward into the medical career,” junior vice president Hannah Durbin said.” I think it is a great way to have the chance to earn scholarships and put it down on my resume.” 

Senior president Madison Vega feels honored to be a part of HOSA and wants members to be active within the community. 

“I know our generation is looked down on, so my goal as president is to change that view on us,” Vega said. “I want us to be known here, and I would love for us to have a big impact on the community.”

HOSA members are working together to plan community events and fundraisers.

“Everyone seems to work well with each other and we all have the same idea— to make this feel like a family,” Crites said. “I expect nothing more than to do what we all desire, which is to make this feel like a big family. We plan on reaching out into the community to show them that our generation is better than what the news and social media makes us out to be. We want this to stick and not disappear from the high school again.”

Vega’s goal for HOSA is for it to continue to be active at the school even after seniors graduate.

“The one thing I’m looking forward to most is to graduate knowing that we left something behind after 15 years that will have dedicated members who stand by one another, and will continue to grow HOSA for many many years to come,” Vega said.