HOSA-Future Health Professionals is an international student-led organization that strives to empower student leaders and inspire students interested in healthcare. This week, co-heads of the MICDS HOSA Chapter Saivi Gadi ’25 and Amisha Poojari ’25 actively organized HOSA Week; an event that HOSA chapters around the country partake in. Chapters around the nation celebrate and plan differently. At MICDS, each day of the week had a different health-related theme, from mental health to cancer awareness.
The theme for Monday was Mental Health Day. Members created a wellness board with different prompts that allowed students around the school to share their thoughts and feelings.
The wellness board was a success and created a welcoming sense of community! Following this fun activity, Isabel Philips ‘24, co-head of Mental Illness Support for Teenagers (MIST) and Mr. David Hotaling, Upper School Counselor, led a guided discussion about the importance of mental health. MIST is a club initiated to end the stigma behind mental health issues by providing a student perspective on the topic.
The theme for Tuesday was Community day. HOSA members participated in Cards for a Cause, a community service project the club initiated in April to send positive messages to children in hospitals. Students made over 40 cards with kind and inspiring words! The club plans to deliver these to the St. Luke's Children Hospital over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Wednesday’s theme was cancer awareness day. MICDS HOSA co-head Saivi Gadi ‘25 gave a presentation about the importance of cancer awareness, common signs, and treatment of the disease. Afterwards, Upper School Math Teacher Al Begrowicz, a tongue cancer survivor, joined in to speak about his inspiring journey.
Thursday was Heart of a Healthcare Worker Appreciation day, where students made banners and signs in honor of all the work they have done for the community, especially during the pandemic. Then, HOSA had its first ever memorial walk where students walked around campus with the colorful banners.
Friday was HOSA Spirit Day! Students wore either their HOSA attire or the official HOSA colors (red, white and blue).
Overall, HOSA Week was a huge success and was a great way to bring the community together! It was great to see students connect through community service, shared experiences, and gratitude. More about HOSA here: https://hosa.org/