Chapter Spotlight: BASA HOSA Presenting a Professional Image

BASA (Barrow Arts and Sciences) HOSA, and healthcare students in Barrow County, Georgia, understand the importance of presenting a professional image through appearance, behavior, and language. These students dress in scrubs each Wednesday to earn employability points for courses in the healthcare pathway.

The emphasis behind this initiative is inclusion of the Georgia Department of Education's first standard, Employability. At BASA, our goal is to prepare students to enter the workforce and become successful in their chosen career, taking into account the need to nourish their development of soft skills, or interpersonal attributes you need to succeed in the workplace.

The grading criteria includes: being prepared/on time, attendance, communication skills, appropriate cell phone use, time management and responsibility (to name a few).

Students are graded throughout the semester on being prepared for class, attendance, communication skills, cell phone policy adherence and other soft skills. For example, a student may lose points in this category for absences or tardies, coming to class unprepared, cell phone use outside of designated times, improper communication skills, unprofessional behavior or language.