As the school year at Ladue High School starts up, many clubs are hosting introductory meetings to recruit new members. One of these clubs is Health Occupations Students of America, a student-centered, international organization dedicated to promoting careers in health care and providing students with experience in the healthcare industry.
HOSA hosted its first meeting Sept. 9 in the multipurpose room. Club leaders welcomed the new members with smiles and snacks for all.
“I’m really interested in pursuing medicine as an occupation, and a lot of my friends were going [to the meeting] and I just wanted to check it out,” Norah Jeffery (9) said.
The club leaders shared a brief introduction about themselves before providing information on how to join the club, as well as the kinds of competitive events or learning opportunities that membership can offer them.
In addition, Ladue HOSA works closely with another club and organization called the American Red Cross. Students can participate in volunteer work and become CPR- certified through the American Red Cross, and become blood donors through the National Marrow Donor Program. NMDP is a nonprofit organization that allows people to donate blood to aid those fighting diseases like leukemia and lymphoma. This year, HOSA aims to meet a fundraising goal for NMDP at $500.
The meeting closed with club president Anthony Zhao wishing club sponsor Allen Weltig a happy birthday, offering celebratory cupcakes and thanking everyone for attending. HOSA will hold another meeting in October to go more in-depth on how to register for the upcoming competition in March.