Local allied health students place second in world 

Harlie, left, and Elizabeth

Local allied health students place second in world 

West Shore School News is a presentation of the West Shore Educational School District in collaboration with Mason County Press and Oceana County Press.

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

Hart High School students Harlie Choponis and Elizabeth Vega finished second place in the HOSA (formerly (Health Occupations Students of America/Future Health Professionals) 2020 Virtual International Leadership Conference June 24-27.

The students are part of the West Shore Educational Service District’s Career and Technical Education allied health classes. “I am thrilled with their desire to keep studying despite the shutdowns and working many hours at their jobs,” said allied health instructor Sally Wright.

Choponis and Vega participated qualified for the international conference after taking first place in the state leadership conference (SLC) in early March. Also qualifying were Jenna Smith from Mason County Central High School and Audra Shoup from Ludington High School, who finished second in CPR/first aid at the SLC and Kristianna Baatz from MCC, eighth place in nursing assisting at the SLC (she was bumped up to compete at the ILC due to students who placed above her not being able to compete). 

The 2020 ILC was held virtually due to COVID-19 coronavirus. It was originally scheduled to be held in Houston, Texas on the same dates with 8,310 competitors from across the US, Puerto Rico,  United Kingdom, Canada and China demonstrated their competencies developed through health science classes. The students also had the opportunity to participate in 64 educational workshops and listen to two keynote speakers, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams and Barbara Pierce Bush, chair of the board of Global Health Corps and daughter of former President George W. Bush.

Due to social distancing, the students were not able to demonstrate their team skill together. Their competition consisted of a timed written test as well as two scenarios in which they would describe what their emergency actions would be. 

Their names being called can be seen at hosa.org. clicking on ‘2020 ILC Highlights’ under the news section and clicking on “HOSA Awards Sessions” and then clicking on “Grand Awards Session Emergency Preparedness”. CPR/first aid is at 7:10 in the video.

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