Students count down until they don’t have to come to school, but many will be back in school after Memorial Day.

Two events that bring students back during summer time are the HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) international competition, the Panther Leadership Academy.

Panther Leadership Academy, also known as PLA, is a three-day event that the student council hosts for students from second to fifth
grade. They learn leadership skills through games, crafts and activities. Students involved in PLA are ex pected to attend work nights.

These are after-school events where they prepare for camp.

“We have meetings to help plan out the activities we’re going to have for the kids,” sophomore Brogan Jesseph said.

For the HOSA international competition, students do a different type of preparation like studying for their competition event.

“They competed at a state contest and had to place in the top three at state to qualify to go to the International Conference in Houston,” O’Brien said.

It can be a lot for some students who have other commitments like sports and jobs.

“The summer is a lot easier in my opinion. All I have to do is take off work instead of missing classes.”

PLA and HOSA students aren’t the only people sticking around, so do many athletes and members of other clubs.
So even when school ends, many are still here.