Chelsea and Saline Students Headed to States for Health Occupations Competition

High school students from Chelsea and Saline, who are part of the South & West Washtenaw Consortium (SWWC), earned spots in the competitions after placing highly at the regional Health Occupations Students of America event.

The two students from Chelsea advanced in a newly added Respiratory Therapy competition.

To learn more, the Sun Times News reached out to Dawn Welt, a Health Science Instructor and HOSA Advisor at SWWC.

Welt said the Health Sciences HOSA team delivered an exceptional performance on Saturday, November 22, at the Regional HOSA Competition. 

“With approximately 1,000 students competing across 60 events, our 19 student competitors represented the program with remarkable skill, professionalism, and pride,” said Welt. “We are thrilled to share that nine students have qualified to advance to the State HOSA Competition this spring.”

According to Michgan HOSA’s webpage, HOSA “exists to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for knowledge, skill and leadership development of high school, post-secondary and middle school students interested in healthcare.” 

Welt said they give a huge congratulations to all who competed.

“It takes courage, commitment, and countless hours of study and skills practice to prepare for these events,” she said. “We are proud of each and every one of you.”

The SWWC provides Career & Technical Education (CTE) opportunities to 11th and 12th grade students enrolled in the Chelsea, Dexter, Lincoln, Manchester, Milan, and Saline school districts.

A special congratulations goes out to the nine top-five finishers, who will proudly represent The SWWC Health Science Program at the Michigan State HOSA Leadership Conference in Traverse City this April.

They are:

Chelsea High School
• Cecilia Bayer, 4th Place– Respiratory Therapy                                                 

• Michael Rubio, 5th Place – Respiratory Therapy                         

Saline High School

• Ishani Deswal – 2nd Place, Prepared Speaking
• Megan Sweet – 2nd Place, Behavioral Health                                

• Sara Thompson – 3rd Place, Growth and Development
• Andrew Lenz – 3rd Place, Nutrition
• Ava Spitler – 4th Place, Job Seeking Skills                                                         

• Graham Gerbe – 5th Place, Job Seeking Skills                                                       

• Sidak Singh – 4th Place, Epidemiology 

“We could not be more proud of these students for their hard work, determination, and professionalism,” Welt said. “Congratulations to each of them on an outstanding achievement and for representing our program with excellence.”

Photo: Students in the Health SWWC program will compete in the state competition. Photo is a screenshot from Saline Video YouTube channel.