MERIDIAN, Idaho — Over 60 Meridian students returned from Dallas this weekend after winning big in an international health science competition.
They’re part of the future health professionals club at Meridian's Medical Arts Charter High School.
Their summer break is just getting started after taking home first place in two different categories.
In the CPR and First Aid competition, Noor Abdulkareem and Olivia Baber took the top spot on the podium.
“We ended up getting first and we were not expecting it, at least I definitely wasn’t, I was so shocked,” says Baber.
Alexis Conway, outgoing senior and Meridian’s HOSA president, led her team to victory in the Parliamentary Procedure event as well. Also part of the team, Hannah Cathrae, Ashlynn Heath, Kaylee McCulloch, Ethan Skinner, Anna Swanke and Amelia Ware.
They came out on top against competition from nearly every state in our nation along with a handful of other countries, including China, South Korea, and Canada.
“This school has provided me so many opportunities, it’s helped me learn a lot about myself and what I want to do,” says Alexis Conway.
Blake Gaudet, a Social Studies teacher and HOSA advisor at MMACHS, believes the career technical school is important amidst a healthcare professional shortage.
The campus organization works to create a space where students can learn new skills and train for each competition. In partnership with Idaho State University, high school students can complete dual enrollment requirements.
“Schools like this do a great job of letting kids start figuring those things out earlier and setting them on a path to even finish their higher education earlier because they get a lot of those college credits out of the way,” says Gaudet.
Hours of learning, studying, practicing, and testing takes up most of the students' lives in the program. Many are driven by their passion for helping others.
“What made me decide to go to this school was when I was in seventh grade, my grandpa was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer and he had to move into our house and I kinda took on the role of ‘nurse Alexis.’ So every morning I would take his blood pressure, I would bring him his coffee, I would bring him his pills,” Conway shares, “that’s where I found my passion for nursing and it made me want to provide this quality of life to not just him but everyone else’s loved ones.”
Making their state, school and teachers proud, the past year’s achievements will be unforgettable for these students.
“It’s cool because you see how capable they are, but I think sometimes at that age it’s weird to think that maybe you are some of the best in the world at something,” says Gaudet.
