BPA students shine at state

Showing their skills in everything from health research presentations to computer programming, Wayne County students again earned state championships and Top 10 finishes in Business Professionals of America’s State Leadership Conference. 

Lincoln, Centerville, Hagerstown and Richmond each sent a delegation of state qualifiers to Indianapolis for the March 10-12 competition. 

In addition to competing in their events, participants had the opportunity to network, attend leadership sessions, and further develop their technical and soft skills. 

Several students earned the opportunity to compete at BPA’s national conference later this year. Their chapters welcome contributions sent to their school to help pay travel and registration fees. 

Here are results from each school. 

Lincoln

Garrett Singer, who advises the Golden Eagles, said they had an “amazing trip” this year. 

“The time and hard work that all of these students put in was on full display during the conference and they represented themselves, the school, and the community in a way that everyone should be proud of,” Singer said.

At the end of the conference, Lincoln BPA had 22 national qualifiers (seven of which qualified in two events), and multiple state champions and top 10 finishes. 

State champions included the Administrative Support Team of Alivia Anderson, Samantha Bell, Brody Puckett and Elijah Berry; Rebecca Harmer in Fundamental Word; Gracie Gambill in Advanced Office Systems & Procedures; and Seth Ingalls in Database Applications. 

“I had a good experience at SLC being able to compete in events that are helping me prepare for my future and learning how to persevere through problems that may arise,” said student Bear Ervin. “Also, the opportunity to continue to be able to develop the soft skills that are needed and in high demand in today’s workforce is invaluable.” 

To raise money, LHS’ BPA is organizing a Cambridge City Eclipse 5K Run/Walk for area residents and guests at 9 a.m. Sunday, April 7, at their school, 205 E. Parkway Drive, Cambridge City. The $25 entry fee includes a T-shirt. For more information, call 765-478-5916.

Centerville

Student Alex Goodwin said the state conference was “an amazing experience and a great opportunity to develop leadership skills that can be further used in our lives.” 

“We were able to meet students from all across Indiana with similar interests as us and created memories with each other that will last a lifetime,” Goodwin said. 

The Bulldogs’ state champions were Ellie Cox in the Administrative Support Research Project category, and Savannah Davis in Health Insurance.  

Centerville’s Parliamentary Procedures Team, Ellie Cox, Savannah Davis and Zack Hugo all qualified to compete at the National Leadership Conference in Chicago.

Centerville’s chapter was recognized for participating in Special Olympics, Safety Awareness, Marketing and Communications, Community Service, 10% membership increase, and received the Chapter Activities Award of Excellence.  

RHS

Advisers Denise Selm and Angie Witham said RHS’ BPA had another great year at state. 

Twenty-one of its 27 competing students placed in their events, and 14 members qualified for nationals. 

“I am so proud of all our members that competed at SLC,” Selm said. “They have worked really hard and are already preparing for the National Leadership Conference in Chicago.”

RHS had eight state champions, including Charles Frederick—C# Programming, Hannah Stearley—Health Research Presentation, Jacob George—Economic Research Individual, and Fred Mendenhall in 2 events: Advanced Word Processing and SQL Database. 

Lucy Couch, Chloe Cheng, Gabriella Demotte and Avery VanDervort were state champions for the Podcast Production Team.

RHS’ chapter was honored for having more than a 10% membership increase. 

Ninth grader Hannah Stearley said she’s learned lifelong skills and made new memories. 

“As a first-year BPA student I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was surprised by how much I have grown my business and presentation skills,” Stearley said. “This experience has also been very unique due to all the other high school students I have had the opportunity to meet. I can’t wait to participate in BPA for many years to come and continue to advance this year at nationals!”

Hagerstown

Five HHS students (Townsend Gross, Hazard Houghton, Zoe Meek, Charley Rinehart and Morgan Williamson) competed at BPA’s district contest. 

Four of those students went on to compete at state. Houghton, Meek and Rinehart advanced as the presentation team. Meek also competed for Digital Media Production. 

Williamson competed in two events at state — Payroll Accounting and Banking and Finance. They also took several opens, in which Rinehart came in 7th in Medical Terminology Concepts. 

“We had a really good time, and the students learned a lot about the business world,” said adviser Beth Overfield. “We spent Monday evening at a group dinner creating lifelong memories for all of us. I am so thankful I was able to take such an amazing group of kids.”