Round 2 of the Missouri HOSA State Leadership Conference in Rolla featured 16 Liberty HOSA members who qualified for and took part in the competition. The two-day event took place on Monday, March 28, and Tuesday, March 29. The on-site event was held at Rolla High School rather than Missouri S&T as done in previous years.

Out of the 16 members, 10 of them have qualified to attend the prestigious International Leadership Conference that will be convened in Nashville this June.

Fiona Do (11), Amelia Huebbe (11), Anna Morrison (12), Julia Wiley (11) and Sophia Fiorino (11) achieved the incredible feat of becoming state champions in the Parliamentary Procedure event. This contest involves members conducting a simulated business meeting using the common protocol of parliamentary procedure, demonstrating the importance of cooperation and teamwork in the healthcare field. There are two rounds: the first is a written test with the second being the actual meeting presentation.

Do remarked on how amazed she and her group were to hear that they had won state in the competition.

“I didn’t originally expect our team to be state champions in the event, but we all studied arduously and wanted good results,” she stated. “For all five of us, this was our very first year doing Parliamentary Procedure, so becoming state champions was not even on our radar. Although we were surprised by the result, we were all so happy to represent Liberty HOSA this way.”

Do also noted the enjoyable and friendly atmosphere of the state conference, which helped her and her peers keep their nerves during the event.

Saiya Ameen (10), Emma Thomas (10) and Jaden Zelidon (12) received the esteemed Barbara James Service Award for having completed an outstanding 100 hours of volunteer community service relating to health.

For the Health Education event, students had to present a health-related lesson that they prepared for a group of students and evaluate the results of it. This project allows students to actively participate in an instructional setting and display their skills in medical education.

Liberty sophomores Laney Torbit and Lauren McCain competed in the Health Education event. They chose to teach a class of second-graders about the significance of handwashing.

McCain recalled how they exhibited creative ideas for their presentation.

“We came up with various activities like the glow germ gel activity where students put this stimulated germ gel on their hands so they could see for themselves the germs on their hands,” she recounted.

“When competing at the event we were very nervous and hoped to do well,” McCain recalled. “We practiced our presentation a lot in the days leading up to state; it was really fun at state, they had various activities and lessons there that were beneficial.”

Emma Thomas and Zoey Hoselton (11) were honored at the conference on stage after Thomas placed fourth in Prepared Speaking and Hoselton placed 5th in Medical Spelling.

The overall Liberty High School HOSA chapter was rewarded with a certificate of recognition for members’ contributions to Be the Match for the HOSA Service Project. Be the Match is a donor organization that is a global leader in blood stem cell transplantation and manages the most diverse marrow registry in the world.