Lahainaluna High School Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) students visited Sen. Roz Baker on a recent trip to Oahu. 

LAHAINA – Lahainaluna High School students recently won awards at the annual Hawaii State Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) Convention at the Hawaii Convention Center on Oahu.

CTSO strives to support career and technical education programs that improve students’ academic, career and technical skills.

Through hands-on classroom experience, students see the “real world” value of what they study in academic classes.

Students from the school’s Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) Club and Skills USA team participated in the annual event.

Members in each club participated in a variety of contests in architectural drafting, building, business and health.

Teachers Mike Sado and Jeremy Delos Reyes headed the Skills USA team, in which skills were assessed in the areas of architectural drafting and building/construction.

For architectural drafting, students were evaluated on their floor plan, exterior elevations, schedules, sketches and general knowledge.

Lahainaluna student Shelley Kurose came in second in this category, followed by Ivy Tejada in fourth and William Schusser in fifth place.

In the building/construction contest, Lovey Soliman placed second and Justin Tinao finished in third place.

Under the direction of Lahainaluna teacher Eduardo Zayas Quinones, three Lahainaluna students excelled in the DECA portion of the competition.

In the area of Marketing Management, Bailey Pendergast achieved a Medal for Excellence in Role Play B, Medal for Third Place Written Exam and Medal for Top Six Finalist.

Pendergast also received a trophy for second place overall, making her eligible to compete at the DECA International Career Development Conference on April 24-27 in Anaheim, CA.

Kayla Ewing received a Medal for Excellence in Role Play A in Marketing Management, and Esther Arvizu achieved a Medal for Excellence in Role Play A in Business Services.

Students in HOSA, headed by teacher Malia Shimomura, also did very well in their competition. Several students placed and qualified for the HOSA National Leadership Conference on June 26-29 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The following students all came in first place: Chantelle Baclay in Human Growth and Development, Paije Cajudoy in Pharmacology, Hoolaiikeao Cabanilla in Extemporaneous Speaking, Brea Yamat in Healthy Lifestyle, Leslie Garo in Job Seeking Skills and Amanda Matsuda in Prepared Speaking.

As a team in Public Service Announcement, Lark Canico, Jenina Pascua and Honeylynn Yabo placed second.

Coming in third place were Vincent Sarian in Medical Assisting, Marella Galace in CPR/First Aid and Jeannie Ramelb in Medical Math.

“At Lahainaluna, CTSOs strive to provide a unique program of career and leadership development, enabling students to be better prepared for both college as well as… future careers. We would like to congratulate both the students that have excelled, as well as the teachers who have fostered their support for these students, making our future look bright,” noted Martina Nagasako, Parent Community Networking Center facilitator at Lahainaluna High School.