Prior to embarking on her college journey this fall, Dr. Dennis D. Cantu Early College High School’s (CECHS) graduating senior Dayanara Ibarra will spend part of her summer representing CECHS, Martin High School, and Laredo ISD at the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) Future Health Professionals National Leadership Conference in Houston, Texas June 26-29.
For the second consecutive year, Ibarra has advanced to the HOSA National Conference and will compete against the top students in the nation in her respective event, Life Support Skills
“First of all, I feel very proud of myself. I get to make history for the second time by representing CECHS and our HOSA Program at Nationals,” said Ibarra. “I feel very proud of myself. I’m very grateful for CECHS and my teachers for guiding and helping me so much. Because without them I would have not gotten to where I am today.”
During the state competition, Dayanara competed with 18 students and placed first in the Life Support Skills Event. Only the top three students from every event advanced to the national conference. So, Ibarra is part of an elite group of the top three students in her respective state and event.
When they started calling out the winners at state Dayanara began worrying and wondering if she had done enough to advance to nationals.
“At the beginning, I was getting nervous because the screen showed fifth place and my name didn’t come out. I thought I was not going make it to the top five,” said Ibarra. “Once they showed the whole screen and I heard my name called as the first-place winner, I was overwhelmed. I worked so hard and I’m very proud of myself that I was able to place first on stage.”
At the national conference, Dayanara will have the opportunity to compete in events that are specific to her health profession interests. Ibarra will participate in competitive events that highlight her abilities within various categories including health science, health professions, emergency preparedness, leadership, teamwork, and recognition. She will also be exposed to top level competition and have the opportunity to showcase her knowledge in her event. It is a great networking opportunity, because not only are other high schools in attendance, but colleges and universities as well.
Dayanara earned a coveted spot among the top 10 competitors in the Life Support Skills Event at last year’s Nationals. Ibarra plans on using her experiences from last year’s competition to reach her goal of placing in the top three at this year national conference.
“Last year really helped me prepare for this year’s competitions. It was my first year and it was something new to me so I was inexperienced,” said Ibarra. “This year, I really know what I'm doing. I know all my skills and I feel confident that I could be in the top three.”
Dayanara credits her classes at CECHS with helping her tremendously with her public speaking and for helping her understand what she needs to do in preparation for this year’s HOSA competitions. Her professional communications class has helped her with communicating with people, making eye contact, projecting her voice, staying calm, and showing confidence with people, while her pathophysiology class has helped her with any type of disease.
“Being a student at CECHS has helped me gain a better understanding of what it means to be a healthcare professional. It has also helped me determine what degree I want to pursue in the medical field,” said Ibarra. “The program at CECHS has helped open the doors for me and I have learned a lot about the medical industry that I really didn't know.”
“For the past few years, I've known Ms. Ibarra. She has grown as a student and as a person. She's focused more on her studies. She is now more mature to enter these types of competitive events and apply for the college of her choice,” said CECHS Health Science teacher Juan Aguilar. “When I got her, she learned CPR, first aid, and how to approach a situation that involves critical thinking. She's learned it very well. Overall he's just grown as a person and as a student.
CECHS is becoming one of the premier Health Science schools in South Texas and the HOSA Program is laying the groundwork and leading the way on putting the school on the state and national map. HOSA also gives students the chance to develop important skills to become leaders in health professions. These skills include teamwork, communication, interpersonal skills, responsibility, and character.
For the past couple of years, the leadership at CECHS has created a structure that has allowed the program to grow putting the school in the state and national spotlight. They have strengthened their educational curriculum and recruited teachers with backgrounds in medical field.
“We've done educational changes so the students can improve and have that knowledge to go out and compete at the state and national level,” said Aguilar. “Then you have our staff’s background. We have a dental hygienist, Mrs. Walker. Then we have a physical therapist, Mr. Reyes, and myself. I'm a nurse, respiratory therapist and EMT. Just by having a diverse combination of individuals in the healthcare field that has boosted up our programs.”
“I try to encourage all my classmates to join HOSA. This year, we had the most students join HOSA and that advanced to state,” said Ibarra. “Because of the recent exposure of the HOSA Program we recruited a lot of students to come to CECHS.”
“Due to Dayanara’s background in HOSA and being third in state last year and first this year, we were able to recruit more students from Martin High School and Christen Middle School,” said Aguilar. “She's become a role model to some of those students. We have a couple of students that have been following her and seeing what she's been doing on her Skills Day and her practices. So, she's been a good influence for those students.”
Dayanara credits her teachers, especially Mr. Aguilar, for her academic success. Mr. Aguilar is the one who encouraged her get in the program and helped her realize that she belongs in the medical field.
“To all my teachers and especially Mr. Aguilar, I’m very thankful to them,” said Ibarra. “Since my sophomore year, Mr. Aguilar has been the one motivating me and showing me the skills that I need to work in the medical field. In every practice he showed me everything. How it going works, how I would be helping the patient. Without my teachers I would not have succeeded.”
Ibarra hopes to follow in her families’ footsteps and pursue a career in the medical field as her mother and aunt are medical assistant nurses.
“My family is so proud of me especially my mom and aunt. I’m very thankful to them for being there for me. Both my mother an aunt usually shares their daily experiences and stories of working in the medical field of helping people and saving lives,” said Ibarra. I also want to help other people and save their lives. I also want to help my community by working in the medical field.”
The reason Dayanara wants to become a dermatologist is to focus on skin cancer and help our community. “Our community doesn't really have skin cancer doctors,” said Ibarra. “I want to bring something back home that will benefit our community.”
Ibarra is the HOSA President and Vice President of the FFA. Dayanara is also in the National Honor Society, and a member of the swimming, cross country, and track teams.
Outside of school she volunteers at the Laredo Animal Shelter. In her free time Dayanara enjoys spending time at the park where she can run and listen to music.
She plans on attending Molly University in Ney York or UTRGV to purse a degree in the medical field. Dayanara hopes to return to Laredo and help her community as a Dermatologist.
She attended Leyendecker Elementary School and Christen Middle School. Dayanara is the daughter of Jessica Ramirez.