Millsaps hosts HOSA conference

High school health science students from across north Mississippi spent their Saturday in Starkville competing and learning.

The Millsaps Career and technology Center hosted the Mississippi Northern District Hosa-future Health Professionals conference for the first time. The students competed in various health-related competitions, heard from a guest speaker and had the opportunity to meet with college recruiters. Several competitions and tests were available to students, ranging from veterinary science to sports medicine. February is also career technical education (CTE) month, with various CTE events being held.

“These students prepare for over 30 different healthcare categories,” said Millsaps Career and Technology Center health sciences teacher Jemeica Arnold. “They'll study, take a written test, and from that written test, they go on to a round two skill, and from the skills section, those top five go on to the state-level competition in March.”

Arnold said 498 students from 31 schools covering an area from Carroll County to Mississippi's Memphis suburbs participated.

“We have 31 schools represented here, and that's not all of the HOSA chapters in north Mississippi,” Arnold said.

Arnold said the conference was going well although preparations had been challenging.

“It's pretty busy, there were a lot of loopholes, or things we didn't take into consideration at first, but how that we know, next time will be a lot better,” Arnold said.

Millsaps Director Lenora Hogan said the Millsaps