Five students from the Monongalia County Technical Education Center pursuing careers in nursing and healthcare administration can now count themselves among the country’s best.
Madison Moon, Kendall Straus, Berna Toedt, Larry Wiles and Kim Szczyrbak all turned in top showings at the HOSA International Leadership Conference, held last week in Texas.
More than 12,000 soon-to-be health practitioners from across the U.S. gathered in Houston for the three-day event.
The organization is HOSA-Future Health Professionals.
The organization began its life in 1976 as the Health Occupations Students of America, or HOSA.
While its name changed to reflect a growing international reach, its signature acronym stayed.
The above students are adult learners at the tech center on Mississippi Street.
“I’m really proud of them,” said MTEC’s Randi Johnson, who teaches courses in licensed practical nursing and accompanied the students to Texas.
Johnson, who has been a nurse since 2013, has had a variety of medical assignments in her profession and knows the importance of the HOSA competitions.
“Houston was a big stage,” she said, “and our students are right up there with the world.”
Nearly 70 disciplines and avenues in the field were represented, from behavioral medicine and pathophysiology to epidemiology and public health.
Patient care, critical and even marketing and messaging factored in to the judging.
In the meantime, MTEC’s Wiles netted first place in the nutrition category – with colleagues from Utah, Texas, Ohio, North Dakota and Massachusetts finishing short of his medal effort.
Szczyrbak also earned a first-place, gold medal showing in the medical law and ethics portion, besting other competitors from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Texas.
For the health career display competition, Straus and Moon were among the top four in that category, along with other teams from New Jersey, Virginia and Oklahoma.
Toedt placed sixth in the nation in the human growth and development education category, sharing the stage with colleagues from Texas, Nevada, Utah, Florida and Pennsylvania.
MTEC Principal Greg Dausch shared in Johnson’s pride for the Texas turn.
“They’re representative of what we do here,” he said, of the showcase winners from Morgantown.
“They’re going to go forth in their profession, and they’re going to make a difference.”
