GRANT SPOTLIGHT: Business Professionals of America (BPA)
Thanks to their hard work, dedicated advisors and Foundation support, students in the North Central/J. Everett Light Career Center Chapter of Business Professionals of America (BPA) are making some major waves in the world of business.
The BPA is the nation’s leading career and technical student organization for students pursuing careers in business management, information technology, finance, office administration, health administration and other related professional fields. With the support of BPA chapter advisors Kevin Kreinhagen, Brandon McHenry, Michael Meeks and John Albers, NC and JEL students have the opportunity to learn real-world business skills that go well beyond standard school curricula.
The hallmark of the BPA is the Workplace Skills Assessment Program (WSAP). The goal of WSAP is to give students the opportunity to showcase their newly acquired workplace skills in regional, state and national competitions. In these competitions, students prepare for and compete in over 90 events in categories such as finance, health administration, marketing, and digital communication and design.
For the past three years, the Foundation has provided annual grants to cover the cost of student registration for the BPA and its competitions, with the goal of expanding access to BPA participation. Since the start of the Foundation’s relationship with the BPA, membership in the NC/JEL chapter has more than doubled from 10 students to 24. Participation in regional, state and even national competitions has also grown significantly.
During the 2023-2024 school year, 15 students from the NC/JEL chapter qualified for and attended the Indiana BPA competition. They competed in a wide range of events, including global marketing, video production, business law, personal financial management and more. And they made quite the showing.
Ella Christensen, Harper Moses, Hattie Whiteacre and Edie Zumbiel placed fourth in Economic Research; Jendayi Gyamerah-Oliver and Salsabil Qaddoura placed fifth in Broadcast News Production; and Ella Christensen placed fifth in Prepared Speech.
For one student, state was just the beginning. NCHS sophomore Olivia Alvarado placed second in Fundamental Desktop Publishing and first in Graphic Design Promotion, earning a spot to compete in the National Leadership Conference in Chicago.
The WTSF would like to extend a huge congratulations to all the students who participated and placed in this year’s BPA competitions. The Foundation is proud to support such an impressive group of students, and we can’t wait to see what you do next!
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