Roslyn Douglas/submitted John F. Kennedy High School students Mekedah Johnson, Megidelawit Yirefu, Rundell Douglas, Thao Tran, Yennifer Romera and Vanessa Acha, from left, stand before their National Cancer Institute display at the Patriots Technology Training Center Bio Medical Competition April 18.

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Six medical career students from John F. Kennedy High School, Silver Spring, won first place in the Bio-Medical Competition on April 18 at the Greenbelt Marriott.

They were the only team, of seven in the competition, from a Montgomery County school.

“The purpose of the Bio-Medical Competition is to get more students interested in the medical field. Our goal is to get these students in front of the people they want to be like,” Thurman Jones, president of the nonprofit Patriots Technology Training Center, which sponsored the program.

The students researched and visited the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

“I learned a lot I didn’t know about how cancer affects our society. When I saw the statistics it shocked me to see how much money was spent on the medication,” said junior Vanessa Acha, a member of the Kennedy team.

Students in the Medical Careers program earn a certified nursing assistant degree within their one-year program, teacher Barbara Marchwicki said.

For the competition they had to create a tri-fold display, give a presentation, make a brochure and develop website.

“It was an unforgettable experience and I’d like to do it again. It was hard work and it really paid off,” Vanessa said.

Each student on the winning team received $100.

“I was extremely proud of their professionalism in front of a prestigious [panel of judges],” Marchwicki said.