Our Spartana staff participated in the Woman’s Press Club of Indiana high school journalism competition. Founded in 1913, the Woman's Press Club of Indiana is a nonprofit organization of media professionals in communication. 

This competition is held each year to recognize Indiana high school students' stellar performance in journalism. Affiliate judging was held this year on March 19th. First-place winners at the Indiana level have the opportunity to compete in the National Federation of Press Women’s national contest.

HOSA-Future Health Professionals is an international student organization with a two-fold mission to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people. HOSA provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation, and recognition exclusively for secondary, postsecondary, adult, and collegiate students enrolled in health science education and biomedical science programs or have interests in pursuing careers in health professions. The rapidly changing healthcare system needs dedicated workers who, in addition to their technical skills, are people-oriented and capable of playing a leadership or followership role as a member of a healthcare team.

HOSA is not simply a club; many schools integrate HOSA into their curriculum and course offerings, especially at local career centers. Throughout the school year, students involved in HOSA have the opportunity to prepare for state and international competition in 80+ events focused on a variety of healthcare fields. These competitive events include anything from academic tests in various science and healthcare fields to performance events in health professions or emergency preparedness to leadership and team events involving research, debate, problems solving and projects. Students prepare for these events throughout the school year using the suggested study materials provided on the HOSA.org website, and online event testing occurs in March. The Indiana State Leadership Convention takes place in mid-April and runs for three days in Indianapolis. The international competition takes place mid-June, and the location changes annually. Nashville, TN is hosting the international competition in June 2025, but Indianapolis is scheduled to host it in the summer of 2026. See Hosa.org/guidelines/ for a full list of competitive events.

Homestead High School initiated its first HOSA-Future Health Professionals charter this spring and returned from the HOSA State Leadership Conference (SLC) held in Indianapolis with some notable competitive performances from its members. As this was Homestead’s first time competing and the charter officially began in January 2025 with 63 members, the students had very little time to prepare for their events that began in March. Twenty-four Homestead members took competitive tests in March, and 19 of those members chose to attend the SLC. They competed with 2,000 other competitors from Indiana schools at the SLC. The following students deserve congratulations for their hard work and effort in representing Homestead High School.

State Competition Qualifiers for Round 2 Performance and Project Events

-Brishti Adhikari --  Researched Persuasive Writing and Speaking

-Mahi Khemka – Phlebotomy

-Rikhin Kavuru – World Health and Disparities

-Andrew McGillivray, Shammy Boda, Mahi Khemka, and -
  Maxine Garganta – HOSA Bowl

-Adri Briney and Kenzie Emerick – Mental Health Promotion

-Adri Briney and Kenzie Emerick – Creative Problem Solving

-Rikhin Kavuru, Jedrek Nguyen, and Arion Nguyen –
  Creative Problem Solving

-Ella Antibus and Katie Kitch – Mental Health Promotion

-Andrew McGillivray, Shammy Boda, and Calvin Cook –
  Mental Health Promotion

-Megan Schilt – Phlebotomy

-Megan Schilt – Medical Terminology

-Jackson Pyle and Grant Hibiske – CPR and First Aid

-Penny Starnes – Physical Therapy

State Competition Top 10 Finishes in both Performance and Project Events or Academic Testing Events (tests were taken at school prior to going to the SLC where awards were announced); Top 3 in any category advance to National Competition in June

-Rikhin Kavuru - International Qualifier and 2nd Place at
  SLC - Human Health and Disparities Academic Test

-Vimbai Chakabva – 6th Place Behavioral Health Academic
  Test

-Samuel Osborne – 6th Place Nutrition Academic Test

-Yewei Chen – 10th Place Epidemiology Academic Test

-Ella Antibus and Katie Kitch – 10th Place Mental Health
  Promotion (digital upload project and presentation to judges
  at SLC)

Students had varied experiences at the 2025 HOSA SLC as their competition times and free time varied. Outside of competition, students attended a variety of healthcare symposiums, a college and career fair, listened to former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams speak about mental health, and had time to interact with other Indiana students planning to pursue a profession in healthcare.

Andrew McGillivray commented, “I learned more about the opportunities that the healthcare field can provide, which particularly stemmed from my experience at the IU Health Symposium. It mainly helped teach me about how people can get involved in healthcare even in high school, such as working at local hospitals.”

Makenize Emrick explained, “During the creative problem solving and mental health promotions competitions, time went quickly, but with the right team, we successfully completed our event and felt confident in our presentations. It was a learning experience to come back with more knowledge and be stronger in the upcoming years.”

Katie Kitch said, “What I found valuable was the ability to do what we wanted with our spare time, and having the ability to work on our project prior to competing. I also liked how we were able to socialize with other people at the event.”

Yewei Chen shared, “I loved the booths with medical professionals who explained their careers, education paths, and opportunities.”

HOSA provides recognition, exposure, and scholarship opportunities for its members as they prepare for their next steps in life. Exposure to available healthcare fields is necessary to help students narrow their competition categories as well as their college and career choices in the healthcare field; therefore, one goal of the HHS HOSA charter is to bring experienced healthcare professionals to the school to discuss their experiences with HOSA charter members. We are hoping to expand this exposure in the 2025-26 school year by taking charter members to visit local university healthcare programs and other community healthcare facilities as well as promote student internships in the healthcare field.