Isabella Garcia-Mendez was just elected as the Region 1 Vice President State Officer at the Cal-Health Occupation Students of America State Leadership Conference in Anaheim.

As a 2014-15 state officer, the Manteca High junior will be counted on to represent the organization to industry professionals, community leaders, elected officials, community partners and, most importantly, the state membership.

Region 1 consists of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties as its southern-most boundaries, extending all the way north, for the most part, to the California border.

Garcia-Mendez was one of 11 students from Manteca Unified Regional Occupational Program’s Health Occupations under the guidance of teacher Cheryl Behler.

“Students prepared all year for their competitive events,” she said.

Included were Bianca Arao (Extemporaneous Writing), Abby Behler (Nursing Assisting), Jorge Betancourt (Career Health display), Illiana Calderon (Extemporaneous Writing), Gurpreet Chahil (Medical Photography), Aakrriti Dua (Medical Photography), Dominique Graham (Career Health display), Taranpreet Kaur (Career Day display), Anthony Molinera (Extemporaneous Writing), Carmina Reyes (Nursing Assisting), and Garcia-Mendez (Career Health display).

Of that, Abby Behler was a top 10 finalist.

Organizers of the state event indicated over 2,000 students took part in the leadership event.

HOSA: Future Health Professionals is a national organization that’s endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education, with a two-fold mission to promote career opportunities in the health care industry while also enhancing the delivery of quality health care to all people.