County students shine at HOSA State

It was a strong showing for Fayette County Public Schools at the 2026 Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) State Leadership Conference.

McIntosh High was heavily represented. Abigail D’Morais served as a Georgia HOSA State Officer as Vice President of Officer Relations for the 2025–2026 school year. Chiefs placed top 4 in four competitive events.

For the second-straight year, Riyali Dayani won 1st place in Health Career Photography. David Buyukgural won 1st place in Medical Reading. The team of Saket Sonone, Abhayjit Saravanan, and Landon McDonald won 1st place in Medical Innovation. Sumena Nair placed 4th in Job Seeking Skills. 

Among other county schools, the Fayette County High team of Nina Le, Deborah Nyarko, Amarachi Ohaya, Jazmine Thomson, and Sheeza Virani won 1st place for Public Health Emergency Preparedness Events.

Lucas Saekhou of Sandy Creek placed 8th in Medical Assisting.

The mission of HOSA is to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for knowledge, skill, and leadership development of all health science technology education students, helping students to meet the needs of the health care community.