The West Bend Current

Thanks to an enterprising junior, the West Bend High Schools will have a new club next year.

The school’s adoption of HOSA–Future Health Professionals is largely thanks to East junior Prince Patel, who spearheaded the effort to get its approval. HOSA is a national organization with local chapters. It’s a club for students interested in healthcare careers. Students will build real-world skills and participate in conferences, competitions and service projects. The WBHS chapter will accept its first members in the fall.

Patel started thinking about starting the club over the summer while volunteering with a friend, who was a part of HOSA at Franklin High School. Then another friend in Germantown told him about their chapter of HOSA.

“So that kinda motivates me, like, why don’t we have HOSA here?,” Patel said.

He started asking people who would be interested in helping him initiate the club, including East junior Bella Downs.

“I’ve taken PBS (Principles of Biomedical Science), HBS (Human Body Science), and MI (Medical Interventions) so far, but I have only learned as much as you can in the curriculum, so it’s cool to have another outlet for that,” Downs said.

The two went to East science teacher Taylor Konz, asking her to advise her first club. Konz, who teaches several healthcare classes, says that she was impressed by Patel’s slideshow about why it’s a good idea for WBHS to have a HOSA chapter. She agreed to advise the club, as long as it was officially approved.

The process for getting a new club approved started by meeting with East athletic director MacKenzie Welnak, because she’s also the person in charge of clubs and co-curriculars. Patel presented his slideshow to Welnak and she considered his proposal.

“In a club, we look for students’ interests and needs levels,” Welnak said. “For example, there is nothing like HOSA currently, and student interest was high.”

Downs also worked on making the slideshow.

“It was nice to have a slideshow because (Welnak) could see all the figures in front of her,” Downs said. “She could see how much it would cost.”

Interest meetings for clubs are held to gauge how many participants can be expected to join the club. HOSA held theirs on April 15.

“We needed five,” Konz said. “We got, like, sixty.”

The meeting focused on explaining the new opportunities members will be involved in. Healthcare is one of the top two careers that West Bend graduates pursue after high school.

“It’s an opportunity thing,” Patel said. “An opportunity for the students here to actually learn more about healthcare as well as participate in it.”

HOSA regionals compete in December, and state is usually in April. The organization’s website lists all of its events, which are divided into six categories. Members can compete in solo or group events, all pertaining to healthcare fields. Patel expects the club’s atmosphere to be fun and engaging.

“I don’t want it just to be study-based,” he said. “Maybe do some fun activities, but also keep a competition base up.”

Konz tried to get a bake sale approved for May but the school asked her to move it to early next school year.

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Top image: HOSA adviser Taylor Konz (center) poses with club founders Norah Paczesny, Ali Harder, Bella Downs and Prince Patel.