Alice High health science students win state championship honors

Alice High School’s health science students returned home with state championship honors, turning a classroom pathway into a point of countywide pride in a place where healthcare gaps are real and visible.

The win carries weight in Jim Wells County, where 40,796 residents live with a 17% uninsured rate, 22% poverty and a median household income of $45,857. The county is also designated a Health Resource Shortage Area and ranks more socially vulnerable than 74% of Texas counties, making every new pipeline into medicine, nursing and allied health more than a school accomplishment.

Alice High’s Health Science program is built for that kind of future. The program says it gives students hands-on learning for careers in nursing, medicine, therapy and medical technology, exactly the fields that can keep local talent in South Texas clinics, hospitals, long-term care centers and other care settings.

The honor also fits the identity of Alice High itself, a school established in 1887 that enrolled about 1,290 students in the 2024-25 academic year. The district says its mission is to prepare, empower and produce lifelong learners, while its vision is for students to be academically and career driven. State-level recognition in a career-and-technical field gives that mission a visible result families can point to.

Texas HOSA, the organization behind the broader competition, says its mission is to promote career opportunities in the health industry and improve the delivery of quality health care. That makes the Alice students’ success part of a larger workforce picture, not just a trophy moment. Texas HOSA’s 2026 State Leadership Conference also fell in April, underscoring the competitive setting in which health science students across Texas were tested.

For Jim Wells County, the stakes go beyond school pride. A county that faces higher poverty, lower income and a chronic shortage of healthcare access benefits when students see a future in high-skill health careers before they ever leave Alice. The state championship honors show that the next generation of that workforce may already be in the classroom at Alice High.