BPA competitors advance to state

By Hannah Stroh

Editorial assistant

Excitement builds as top-performing Business Professionals of America (BPA) members advance from the region, to earn their spots at the state competition. These rising stars represent our school and the region in the upcoming state event, competing against the best in the state for a chance to move on to nationals. 

BPA members at the state competition for Business Professionals of America. Photo courtesy of Mr Lentz.

“In BPA competitions, students participate in various events designed to showcase their business, technology, and professional skills. These events cover categories like finance, management, information technology, entrepreneurship, and public speaking. Students prepare presentations, complete projects, or take exams depending on their chosen event,” teacher, Mr Lenz said. 

BPA consists of a plentiful amount of categories that cater to different types of people with choices of public speaking, a silent test, or a presentation. There's also a variety of categories to pick from to learn more about or that caters more to career paths. 

“Being involved in BPA exposes each member to a wide range of experiences and gives themselves a chance to develop and improve academic knowledge. It's an easy way to gain social consciousness and community awareness as everyone around you is also working to advance themselves academically and have an impact on society in one way or another,” student Makayla Richmond said. 

Becoming a member of BPA provides a wide range of knowledge such as enhancing business knowledge, developing professional skills, exploring future career paths, learning to work with other professionals and exploring opportunities through a variety of competition events. 

“The most challenging aspect isn't the competition itself, the true challenge is finding the time to study, write, or prepare for the competition. This is an issue I struggled with when writing my research paper for BPA and for AP research at the same time,” student Malachi Cliff said. 

Preparation is the most crucial part of the BPA competition process with time management and professionalism being a key component since deadlines and guidelines are strict. 

“The advice I would give to those interested in joining BPA is to simply not be afraid. BPA caters to different types of people; if you don't like public speaking, a silent test may work for you. If testing isn't your strong suit, a simple presentation could work out in your favor. At the same time, don't be afraid to take risks. It's okay to play it safe, but taking a chance won't be the end of the world. BPA is such a down to earth club, yet so important to those who want to make an impact,” Richmond said.