Nevada HOSA SLC 2016

Editorial-
As the state conference is fast approaching I thought I would give advice on how to make the most of HOSA State Leadership Competition. I know that our chapter is well practiced and prepared, but it is good to remember a few things to get the most out of your SLC experience. First of all, plan ahead as State Leadership Conference is March 13th- 16th 2016 in Las Vegas Nevada.  Secondly know who else is going to ride on the 8-9 hour bus trip with you as we have 38 delegates from Elko and Spring Creek High Schools that will be traveling and staying together at the Rio.  Thirdly, know when your Tests, Events and Meeting times and locations are. Events our Chapter is competing in include; everyone taking the Healthcare Issues Exam, 3 members competing in Dental Science, 2 teams in Forensic Medicine, 1 member in Dental Terminology, 2 teams in CPR/First Aid, 2 members in Veterinary Science, 2 members competing  in Job Seeking Skills, 4 members in Medical Assisting, 2 in Epidemiology, 1 member qualified in her test in Human Growth and Development, 1 in Nursing Assisting, 1 in Sports Med, 2 teams for Health and Career Display, 1 EMT team, and 2 members qualified in Medical Spelling. Also take part in the opportunity to be a member of Courtesy Corp., attend exciting Educational Symposiums and participate in the socials and networking events.  We should also recognize our members with volunteer hours for Barbara James and be proud that our chapter raised over $1200 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Foundation for the National Service Project.  Also make the most of the time with our chapter by enjoying the chapter dinner and picking from several options of fun activities for Chapter night on Tues., March 15th.  All the officers look forward to the trip, the competitions, the speakers, educational symposiums and the Opening and Closing Sessions as well as making new friendships and strengthening old ones. Make the most of your experiences there at SLC also.

-Kacie Bell, President

Online Testing

In December and January we took our regional and state online qualification tests.  Some members took two tests while most members only took one. The tests that were picked by our HOSA members for Regionals were Behavioral Health, Biomedical Debate, CPR/First Aid, Dental Science, Dental Terminology, Forensic Medicine, Health Care Issues Exam, Medical Law and Ethics, Human Growth and Development, and Transcultural Health Care Knowledge tests as well as Medical Assisting, Medical Math, Medical Spelling, Medical Terminology, Nursing Assisting, Sports Medicine, and Veterinary Science. Each test was pretty lengthy with 40 questions or more. These were sort of like pretests because we didn’t know which events we wanted to compete in at State yet, but over all they went well for everyone. I heard the Medical Math was the most difficult because the testers weren’t allowed to use calculators. Other than that most of the tests were easy to accomplish.  Our advisor used that information to help us decide which events would be best for us to continue studying and practicing our skills for to compete in at SLC. In January we had people take the Health Sciences category qualifying tests and had four people qualify in the top to attend SLC.  The tests they qualified for were Human Growth and Development, Dental Terminology, and two of our members qualified for Medical Spelling. We will be attending SLC in March to put what we are studying and practicing skills for the competition.

-Jordan Pollard

STATE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2016 - Las Vegas

The annual Nevada HOSA State Leadership Conference is  fast approaching and our chapter's members are hard at work in preparation for the event. The conference will be held in Las Vegas March 13th-16th, 2016. Our members have regular practices for their events. Many have checked out books to study up on their healthcare knowledge. Our adviser, Mrs. Kohntopp, has been busy supporting and pushing us to be sure that we are ready to take on our fellow Nevada HOSA members at SLC 2016!
-Kacie Bell

The Giving Tree

The holidays are a fun-filled time with many opportunities for our HOSA chapter to do things for the community and people in need. This year we partnered with our school's student council and participated in an annual project called The Giving Tree. The Giving Tree is an event where names of students in need from the local elementary and intermediate schools are collected. The names are then written on ornaments and people are able to rally together in purchasing these children gifts. Elko HOSA adopted 7 children and we assigned items for each of our members to bring from the children's wants and needs. The event took place throughout the month of December and we wrapped the gifts and took them to school councilors at the end of the month. -Kacie Bell

Lack of exercise 'twice as deadly' as obesity

            Obesity in America has increased rapidly although lack of exercise should be your main concern. Recent studies have found that when a person has a lack of exercise they are twice as likely to die than when compared to a person who is obese. Even exercise as little as a 20 minute walk a day may have substantial health benefits and could reduce their risk of death by 16-30%. Research has also found that physical inactivity is linked to cancer and heart disease.

            There was a European prospective investigation in 1992 and in 2000 involving the data from 334,161 men and woman in Europe. The data included the person’s height, weight, waist size and physical activity levels and was done over a period of 12 years. During which 21,438 participants died. The research showed the greatest reductions in risk of early death when they compared inactive and moderately active participants. The relationship with early death and lack of exercise were observed across all levels of overweight and obesity measures.

            22.7% of the percipients that has a lack of exercise claim that they were occupies in sedentary jobs. Exercise will help reduce the risk of early death for both obese and non-obese people and it should be taken more seriously because you are two times more likely to die from lack of exercise than you are obesity. Burning around 90-110 calories a day could save your life. -Daisy Uribe

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288042.php

Nevada CTSO Leadership Rally 2015

Nevada CTSO Leadership Rally 2015

This winter, thirty eight students of the Elko County HOSA Chapter Members joined their advisors Mrs. Kohntopp and Mr.VanOrman on the Nevada CTSO Leadership Rally experience. The members stayed at the J. A Nugget Hotel where the conference was held in Reno, Nevada on December 8, 2015.

The fun started at 8:30 AM sharp on a Friday morning with an opening session. The theme of the rally was Heroic Leadership. Activities after activities brought members of all chapters closer together. Members of HOSA, FCCLA, FBLA, and DECA all wore their capes of power throughout 4 leadership sessions where they gained lifelong leadership skills.

The Nevada CTSO Leadership Rally had the privilege to have keynote speaker Wiley Bailey enlighten the crowd. Wiley and his banjo have delivered inspirational messages in nearly 35 states, Nepal, and Japan. Thanks to him, those who attended the conference will never turn down the opportunity to help another.

-Gaby Gonzalez 

Human Head Transplant

Dr. Sergio Canavero plans to attempt the world first human head transplant. This project will be called HEAVEN-GEMINI. Valery Spiridonov is a 30-year-old computer scientist from Russia who has volunteered for this procedure. Valery Spiridonov is willing to face such slim chances because at age 1 he was diagnosed with a rare genetic muscle wasting condition known as Werdnig-Hoffman disease. Spiridonov claims that he can hardly control his body and needs help every day because of his condition and he wants a chance at a new body before he dies. Spiridonov disease is caused by the loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, this prevents most individuals with this disease from walking and even sitting on their own.

            The procedure will take about 100 surgeons and 36 hours to complete. Spiridonov’s head will be attached to a donor body using spinal cord fusion. After the surgery Spiridonov will have to remain in a coma for about 3-4 weeks allowing time for the new nerve connection to boost using electrical stimulation. If everything goes as planned Spiridonov should be walking within a year. Although the most difficult parts of the procedure will be reconnecting the severed spinal cord and stopping the immune system from rejecting the new head. The entire procedure will cost around 11 million and the chances of success are very slim although Spiridonov says he is still willing to take the chance on Dr. Canavero. 
-Daisy Uribe

National Service Project - Leukemia/Lymphoma Society

This year the Elko County HOSA Chapter raised $1200.35 for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society as our National Service Project. We did a fundraiser called Pennies for Patients, as well as a 50/50 raffle as an additional contribution. During the month of November, boxes were placed in all classrooms for students and teachers to donate spare change. Some were even generous enough to donate singles, fives, and a few ten dollar bills. Each week, at the end of the week, HOSA members went around to the classrooms to collect the funds and count the money that had been raised that week. This project went on for five weeks. 50/50 raffle tickets were sold for two dollars each during the basketball games at EHS. We were able to raise a total of $372. The lucky winner took home $182, while the other half was given to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society. We had a very accomplished project this year and hope to the following years as well.
-Sydney Allen