April 30 – Band at State
On April 30, the FHN band will be at state at Mizzou. FHN band students performed on Saturday, March 5, at FZE, and now they’ve figured out who gets to go to state.

“I’m pretty excited,” junior Sean Rhomberg said. “It’s something I’ve gone to before, but it’s always exciting.”

The students figured out if they were going to state on the same day they performed. If they scored a one when they performed, they made it. They were rated from one to five on their performances, one being the best score. The students either got there through a solo or ensemble performed, and some even made it with both. They looked online to figure out if they advanced.

“I’m not too nervous because I think if we prepare adequately then we’re going to do well, so I’m not worried about that,” senior Hannah Weber, who’s participated all four years of high school, said. “I’m excited for it. It’s always a fun trip.”

The day will consist of the students hanging out at Mizzou and listening to people perform. Then the students get rated. Since the competition is on the same day as prom, anyone attending will get to perform earlier in the morning so they can get back and go to prom.

“I’m both nervous and excited because state is a big thing,” freshman Sydney Wise said. “Not too many people make it in, really, so my ensemble and I have to be sure we really work hard.”

June 22-25 – HOSA Nationals
After competing at districts on March 28-29 at Missouri S&T, HOSA heads to nationals. This is HOSA’s  second year of existence at FHN. This is, however, their first year competing at districts and nationals. The national competition will be held in Nashville, TN on June 22-25.

“Because [last year] was our first year as a club, we wanted to get our feet wet as a club and figure out what we were about,” sponsor Matthew Riffee said. “We didn’t have enough time to prepare for competition, but we focused more on that this year.”

There are 10 students heading to nationals, where they will compete in the events they qualified for, all of which pertain to healthcare. Some events require a multiple choice knowledge test to be taken, while others give competitors a scenario they must respond to.

“Nationals will definitely be bigger and better,” freshman Samantha Cary, who qualified for nationals in Sports Medicine, said. “We had the largest event with 33 people at districts, so I can’t imagine what nationals will be like.”