Octorara Senior Places First in State Occupational Health Competition

Pictured (from left to right) is Rachael Mendenhall, Octorara High School senior, and Stephanie Holcomb, Avon Grove High School senior, in the health science lab at TCHS.

This story from Monday's Daily Local News:

WEST GROVE — Chester County students are slated to compete in a national health competition in June in California.

Chester County Technical College High School students Rachael Mendenhall and Jenn Larkin will participate in the national Health Occupations Students of America competition after Mendenhall placed first and Larkin placed second at the state-level competition.

The state conference was hosted March 2 to 4 at the Lancaster Hotel Resort & Conference Center. Students from all over Pennsylvania had the opportunity to demonstrate their grasp and aptitude of the knowledge they have gained from their health care programs.

A senior at Octorara High School and a health occupations student at Technical College High School, Mendenhall competed in medical assisting.

Mendenhall said she and her fellow competitors took a written test and a practical test to demonstrate their skills at obtaining a patient's medical history, positioning patients, putting on sterile gloves and sterilizing equipment.

"The competition started off with a 50-question written test," Mendenhall said. "From there, the top scorers moved on to the hands-on portion."

Read the entire article here and more about the Chester County Technical College High School here.  The program affords high school students like Rachel the opportunity to become a Certified Nursing Assistant while still in high school.