Five students from Cape Coral’s High Tech North campus won awards at the Health Occupations Students of America state competition last week in Orlando.
HOSA is an organization designed for health students in middle, high and post-secondary schools. Each year the organization holds a state event where students compete in medical terminology, practical nursing, extemporaneous speaking, medical photography and more.
Robert Fain, assistant director of High Tech North, said winners received Olympic-sized medals to commemorate their victory.
“We have had students compete at this level before, but this is the first time we’ve had three students win gold medals,” he said.
Three students won the gold and two others placed at last week’s competition. Jennilee Williams, a medical coder and billing student; Carmen Gonzalez, a practical nursing student; and Shannon Rademacher, a practical nursing student, all earned gold medals.
Williams earned the gold in the medical terminology event, Gonzalez for extemporaneous speaking and Rademacher for practical nursing.
High Tech North students Rosa Murphy, a practical nursing student, won fourth place in medical mathematics, and Cathy Jaffray, who is in the medical administrative specialist program, took fourth place in medical terminology.
Practical nursing student Ron Burns also competed against other students in medical mathematics.
Fain said the experience of those who participated in the competition ranged from new students to upcoming graduates.
“These three students will represent the state of Florida,” he said. “Shannon, who competed in practical nursing, will represent all of them from all over Florida.”
Jackie Houle, a practical nursing instructor at High Tech North, said the students were confident when they entered the competition.
“Competitions like this allow students to demonstrate their skills and to build confidence in what they can do,” said Houle. “These students are well trained and earned top honors at the state level.”
The gold medal winners will attend the national competition from June 24-27 in Nashville, Tenn.
Fain said High Tech students competing at nationals will perform the same skills, but will have to face off against more competitive adversaries from across the United States.
For more information on High Tech North, visit: www.hightechnorth.com.