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Orlando, Florida — A dozen Hanna High School students ranked in the top 10 at a national health competition in Florida last month, their best ever showing.
“We made history,” said Linda Rodriguez, a health science teacher at the school. She is also a sponsor at the school of Health Oc-cupations Students of America, which promotes careers in the health field.
The national HOSA conference, which was held in Orlando, Fla. from June 19 to 24, drew about 3,500 participants. They competed in 48 events, which quizzed their knowledge of everything in the health field from dental assistance to medical spelling.
Recent Hanna graduate Christopher Perez said he and his partner, Rebecca Robles, devoted more than 50 hours to preparing for their event this year.
“We put in so much work and so much effort, but it paid off,” Perez said. “It was a true test of perseverance.”
The pair earned first place in the CPR/first aid portion of the competition.
They weren’t the only ones that came home with a first-place medal.
Kendra Naranjo, a junior at Hanna, received a $1,000 scholarship from Kaiser Permanente after receiving the highest score on the health-care issues exam.
In all, the Hanna team took home four first place medals, four second place medals, and one third place medal. Three other stu-dents placed in the top 10.
Students who placed:
First place: Crystal Menard (Clinical specialty and scholarship), Kendra Naranjo (healthcare issues and scholarship), Christopher Perez and Rebecca Robles (CPR/First Aid).
Second place: Margaret Bice (Concepts of Health), Jessica De los Santos, Zenaida Garza, Mayra Delgado (Health Education).
Third place: Mary Vallejo (Physical Therapy)
Top ten: Melanie Lopez, Jackie Esteves, Erika Alvarez (Medical Reading).
The Brownsville Herald
