The Switzerland County High/Middle School chapters of Business Professionals of America(BPA) have several students advancing to national competition in Anaheim, CA on May 1-5th. There are also several students who are qualifying for nationals based on Torch Points ( description below)
The goal of BPA is to develop leadership, academic, and technological skills among students in order to enable them to become leaders in the workplace as well as leaders within the community. Every year BPA hosts a National Leadership Conference (NLC) with nearly 6,000 students from across the nation. At NLC, students compete in over 71 competitive events with students from across the United States.
HIGH SCHOOL:
Garett Demaree– advancing in 2 competitions-1st in Advanced Interview Skills and 6th in Advanced Spreadsheets
Calleigh Powell– 3rd in Prepared Speech
Sierra Hamilton- 3rd in ICD-10 Diagnostic Coding
Sydney Thomas– Fundamental Desktop Publishing
MIDDLE SCHOOL:
Carly Bennett– 1st in Financial Literacy
Ava Cole and Madalyn Levell– 1st in Administrative Support Team
The BPA Torch Awards Program is designed to promote professionalism and leadership in both career development and personal growth.
Qualifying-
Ariel Oeffinger , Emma Sullivan, Zoey Cole, Sam White, Alex Edwards
Students complete activities in the seven Torch categories: Leadership; Service; Cooperation; Knowledge; Friendship; Love, Hope, Faith; and Patriotism.
Each activity is worth 5, 10, 15, or 20 points. When a student achieves a certain number of points for each category they log their activities in an online Torch Resume. Students must accumulate 490 pts to qualify.
Congratulate these students when you see them. Qualifying for NLC is not an easy task and requires hard work, practice and dedication throughout the year.