FHSTheFlash The Flash Volume 46, Issue 7 May 2006 | Page 2

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June 2005

Fraser HOSA wins the state competition

By John Milby ‘08
Flash Staff Reporter

Do you want to become a
doctor or a nurse or even an
orderly? Then Health Occupational Students of America
or HOSA might be the club
for you.
HOSA is a national organization founded in 1976 by
the Department of Education
and Health Science. It has
steadily grown from 6 thousand to well over 78 thousand members. It also includes 40 states plus Puerto
Rico, two unaffiliated states,
and over 2 thousand chapters
or local groups.
“If you’re looking to pursue a career in healthcare,

this organization gives you
the chance to experience it
and it allows you to compete
in competitions that would
involve your area of interest,” said Devon Hagerman
‘06.
HOSA competes against
other chapters in the state
and in the nation, if they
make it to nationals. They
answer questions about
different areas of healthcare.
Some of these events include
creative writing, medical
reading, and biomedical
debate. They also have
scholarships for people that
are entering into a healthcare
profession like the 2006
MHOEA scholarship and
Daughters of the American

Schoolboard Spotlight:
Deborah Prentiss
By Arthur McCall ‘06
Flash Staff Reporter
Deborah Prentiss has been
a representative of the Fraser
School Board for 11 years.
Prentiss’s job is to make decisions regarding the Fraser
School District.
“Within my responsibility
to the community, my number one goal is ‘Kids First’,”
said Prentiss.
Prentiss considers her
peers an extended family,
which has been very supportive through the changes in
her life. A great joy to
Prentiss is when she hands
diplomas to all of the students that she watched grow
and have been a part of her
life.
“A particular moment of
pride and enjoyment is handing my own boys their diplomas when they graduate,”
said Prentiss.
Her sons are Justin (24) a
1999 Fraser graduate, Kyle
(20) a 2003 Fraser graduate,
and Will (16) currently a junior at Fraser. Prentiss also has
a fat Beagle named Bailey
and a very large orange and
white striped cat named
Spike. In her spare time,
Prentiss enjoys reading,
working in the garden,
spending time with her family, and sitting by the water,
which is calming for her.
Prentiss admits to ice cream
being a weakness of hers.
Her favorite movie is
“Somewhere in Time” starring Christopher Reeves and
Jayne Seymour. She will lis-

ten to any type of music except rap.
The first School Board
election Prentiss ran, in she
won by a 100 votes, and ever
since then she has won by at
least 100 votes.
“I ran because I wanted to
be a part of people who were
responsible for the future of
the kids in Fraser, and ultimately my kids. I would honestly say that between the
board, administration and
every staff person in Fraser
no one would ever find a
more dedicated, positive
group of people anywhere,”
said Prentiss.
Besides being on the Board
Prentiss has been a high
school teacher for four years.
Previous to that, she ran her
own business for 15 years
and now she’s a childcare
teacher at the career prep
center in Warren Consolidated Schools.
Prentiss thinks that the
state of Fraser Public
Schools is good. She thinks
they have their work cutout
for them as far as budgeting
and finding money to do
what they want with the district. She feels that the students in Fraser are fantastic,
and continue to impress her
everyday in spite of the turmoil that surround them in
the world. Prentiss intends
on being a part of the board
for some time to come.
“As long as I can be a positive influence and feel that I
am truly helping the students
of the district, I will continue,” said Prentiss.

Revolution Allied Health
Scholarships. In addition
HOSA gives students
knowledge and leadership
skills.
Fraser’s HOSA chapter has
51 members. Of those 51, 18
people
competed
in
knowledge and skills events
at the regional leadership
conference. All 18 won in the
regionals, which meant that
all of them qualified for the
state competition. Five
awards were given to several
FHS students in the state
competitions, which was on
April 27-28 in Traverse City.
Misha Pirzada was 5th place
in Concepts of Health Care
Knowledge Test. Chris
Saronowski (6th place) and

Ashley Shoupe (8th place)
competed
in
Sports
Medicine; Hagerman also
won a gold medal in Sports
Medicine. Pirzada also won
a bronze medal for the
Medical Reading team event,
along with Chris Russo and
Jessica Delkov. Everyone
who earned a medal qualifies
for nationals, which takes
place on June 21-24. Other
activities that Fraser HOSA
has participated in included
making valentines for the
elderly, selling ghost
suckers, donating a Trainers
Angel, and raising funds.
For more information on
HOSA you can go http://
www.hosa.org/natorg.html
or for more information on

the Michigan HOSA you can
go
to
http://
www.michiganhosa.org/.
HOSA is a great organization
for those who want to be
involved in health careers
and is looking for new
students. For information
about joining Fraser’s HOSA
chapter, see club sponsor
Marti Van-Iwanicki.
Many people join HOSA
because they want to become
doctors, physical therapists,
and other heath occupations.
Others just want to be with
others of similar interests.
“…If you want to make a
difference...gain leadership
skills…and
medical
knowledge,” said VanIwan