Health Occupations Students of America is a club at Gloucester High School. If one cannot tell by the name, HOSA is for students who want to have jobs and careers in the healthcare community. HOSA is very busy and a club that is involved in the community.
In the words of Suzanne Nester, someone who helps run the club, “The goal of HOSA is to be active in the club and the community, to promote health and wellness and keep students engaged and motivated in the health sciences.” The club has informational events for the school, does volunteer work, raises money in fundraisers and raffles as well as club members completing educational projects.
The previous informational event was about Diabetes. They had posters and even orchestrated a ‘Blue Hat Day’ to raise awareness. They had many students at GHS learn about diabetes and participate in the wearing of blue hats.
The next big event for the club is visiting with people at the Heron Cove assisted living facility. HOSA members will go there to play games, complete puzzles, decorate cookies and spend time with the people living there. Cookies, frosting and sprinkles will be brought to Heron Cove as an interesting and fun thing for the people to do as a celebration for the holidays.
HOSA gets to do volunteer work because of their fundraising. They currently have a fundraiser going on right now that sells fresh fruit from Florida. Some fundraisers that they have done and will probably do again include, “Northern Neck Popcorn, raffles, and tailgates,” said Nester. Their fundraising money, however, is not limited to helping them do things in the community. They also raise money needed to send people to competitions.
Educational projects are also a staple of HOSA. Each member of the club will have to complete one. They will have to “teach a target audience about health promotion,” according to Nester, previous projects include “hand hygiene and proper oral care.”
There are meetings known as ‘HOSA mini lessons.’ In these meetings, office members pick a topic related to healthcare or a problem with health and they present them to the other people attending the meeting. They then do a group activity and everybody learns something new. Other meetings consist of the members also voting on policies and roles of the club, how funds will be utilized or what activities they would like to do.
HOSA is meant to teach, encourage and engage people in healthcare. It does not matter if you want to be a nurse, an open heart surgeon or a dermatologist, HOSA’s purpose is to help you get there.
