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Welcome to a new and exciting year with the Texas Health Occupations Association! As your President, I’m delighted to greet you and reflect on our recent achievements.

Just weeks before teachers returned to their classrooms, we launched the year with a fantastic summer conference. The enthusiasm, collaboration, and knowledge shared were truly inspiring. A highlight was our keynote speaker’s reminder to “Tell Me Something Good.” I encourage you to keep this spirit alive by sharing your successes and creative ideas with fellow educators.

My mission for THOA is for us to be the go-to resource for health science and science teachers across Texas. With over 3,000 high schools in our state, we have a unique opportunity to expand our reach and impact. I want every health science teacher to recognize the value of THOA and know they are never alone.

Our association offers valuable resources, lesson materials, and a strong network of peers. I encourage you to take advantage of these tools and connect with one another. After our summer conference, we’re also planning a fall mini-conference to provide more opportunities for learning and networking.
Let’s build on this momentum and continue making THOA a vital source of support and inspiration. 


Cheyenne Kirkpatrick , President

50 Years and Still Going Strong

From the THOA, Inc. Executive Director, Jackie Uselton

From 1974 to 2024, my how time flies when you are having so much fun in Health Science Education!

The times may have changed but the basic goal is the same, to support Health Science Education and increase the number of healthcare providers in Texas.  We start working with students in middle school and high school to plant the seeds for success in a very rewarding career.  We support teachers in those efforts to get students started on the right path by developing leaders inside the classroom and in our communities.  

The past 50 years we have led the way as a state to show the rest of the nation how to develop standards and now we have national health science standards as well as our beloved TEKS.  Our predecessors did a great job laying the foundations we enjoy today.  

Our partnership with HOSA to work together to begin the professional student organization that was much like our own teachers had in THOA was the impetus that has propelled our current curriculum and classroom practices into the highest levels of CTE coursework.

I am so proud to be a Health Science Educator and I am so proud of the work that THOA, Inc. has done to prepare so many teachers for success in the classrooms across our state.  

Here’s to another 50 years!!