Lewis Central + BPA = Success for Students
“Professionals in Business, Professionals in Life” – This is the motto for the Lewis Central chapter of Business Professionals of America (BPA). This national academic student organization is new to Lewis Central this school year and they are already very active! The officers attended a leadership conference in Des Moines in October 2007. This past January, they began preparing for regional and state competition. Regional competition was held February 8 at Iowa Western Community College. Six Southwest Iowa schools had students in the competition. Lewis Central students were strong competitors. The competitive events included tests, presentations, word processing projects, interviewing, research, and preparing and sending materials ahead of time. Click here to view the regional BPA competition results.
Based on a great regional experience, Lewis Central students performed exceptionally well at the state competition at the end of February. Eleven students traveled to Des Moines February 24-26. Those attending were Chas Busch, Ashley Clouser, Jake Ferguson, Ashley Harris, Adriene Hitchcock, Arielle Huber, Joe Jerkovich, Stephanie Scrivner, Connie Smith, Melissa Vesper, and Emily Wahle.
The following Lewis Central students placed in the state BPA competition:
Arielle Huber: 2nd Place Advanced Accounting, 4th Place Payroll Accounting, 2nd Place Financial Math and Analysis
Joe Jerkovich, Adriene Hitchcock, and Ashley Harris: 1st Place Global Marketing Team
Ashley Harris: 3rd Place Human Resource Management
Connie Smith: Top 10 in Advanced Accounting
Joe Jerkovich: Top 10 in Administrative Support
Stephanie Schrivner: Top 10 in Fundamental Word Processing Skills
In order to help pay for the costs of these competitions, the students have been putting their business skills to good use by fund raising. They have sold food products, and will be producing “Senior Videos” at a discounted rate for Lewis Central seniors.
The BPA advisors, Chris Bryant, Kathie Lincoln and Cheryl Casey, have been very impressed and pleased with the enthusiasm and participation in BPA and think it is an excellent way for students to apply their business knowledge creatively and competitively. Based on BPA’s success this first year, the advisors are very excited about the future of BPA at Lewis Central.