Photos by Deb Gau Students from Ortonville High School prepare for a legislative group event at the Minnesota Business Professionals of America conference in Marshall on Friday.
MARSHALL – Classes aren’t in session, but students were still arriving at Marshall High School in suits and office wear Friday morning. Once inside, many students opened laptops on dining tables, or pulled out notes for a presentation they were about to give.
It was all about the course at the Minnesota Business Professionals of America conference. Students from eight schools in the southwest and west of central Minnesota, including Marshall High School and Tracy Area High School, competed in events that showcase their skills in areas ranging from business to communications and technology.
“BPA aims to give students the opportunity to share what they have learned in the classroom and in their favorite environment,” said Brenda Kellen, BPA’s Region 8 chair and BPA’s senior advisor at MHS. “There are also many leadership opportunities for students.”
Friday was MHS’s first time hosting a state meet.
“I was very happy with it, because I knew we had a very good equipment,” Kellen said about hosting the meeting. MHS had many places to prepare and compete for students, he said. And because Marshall County didn’t have school that day, he knew there would be room.
During the conference, students can participate in various individual and group activities on a wide range of professional topics. A total of 170 students competed in the meet, Kellen said. MHS students came out on top in various events. Kellen said 43 MHS students won 100 awards on Friday.
Friday’s list of events covered everything from parliamentary procedure to communication skills to employment, finance, information technology and business law. MHS student, Loghan Conway, said he will compete in one of the medical events.
“I’m interested in medicine,” Conway said.
Mal Bingen said he competes in the Ethics and Professionalism event.
“We have 10 minutes to prepare for a hypothetical business pitch,” he said. Bingen said it was his first year competing. “It’s fun,” he said.
Some of the team events that MHS students competed in included film and video production. Tom Hanson, a member of the video production team, said their job was to make a video to raise awareness about endangered species. The team chose the axolotl, a rare type of salamander from Mexico.
“We wanted to choose something good,” Groups have said that.
Another group of MHS students was competing in a computer game. He was given a topic and tasked with creating a series of videos around the topic.
“We had different ideas about what we wanted to do,” said team member Anna DeGroot.
He also said that it was difficult to fit everything into two minutes of animation.
Loghan Conway said it took about a month to complete the animations the team would present.
“It’s great that we do this here in Marshall,” MHS student Josh Bauer spoke about hosting the conference.
One of the benefits of the conference is meeting BPA students from other schools, he said.
For students who placed high enough in their competition on Friday, the next stop will be competition at the Minnesota BPA state leadership conference in March.
Marshall High School students were among the BPA members who topped the teams and special events Friday. In all, 43 MHS students won over 100 awards at the conference. MHS students who came for the first time in their events included:
• Claire Allen – 1st in Advanced Accounting, Payroll Accounting
• Joshua Bauer – 1st in Computer Animation Team, Computer Security, Information Technology Concepts
• Brady Brandl – 1st in Basics of Web Design
• Madelyn Brockberg – 1st in Computer Animation Team
• Logan Conway – 1st in Computer Animation Team, Medical Terminology Concepts
• Daylin Crowley – 1st in Health Administration Procedures, Health Insurance and Medical Billing
• Tiffany Davis – 1st in Computer Programming Concepts, Python Programming
• Anna DeGroot – 1st in Computer Animation Team, Server Administration Using Microsoft
• Jaina Dekker – 1st in SQL Database Basics
• Kennedy Drake – 1st in Basic Office Systems and Procedures, Intermediate Word Processing
• Jordan Duscher – 1st in Video Production Category
• Dalton Edens – 1st in Advanced Word Processing
• Tom Hanson – 1st in Digital Media Production, Management/Marketing/Human Resources Concepts, Video Production Team
• Say Paw On Htoo – 1st in Computer Network Technology
• Mary Lanoue – Freshman in Advanced Communication Skills
• Jasmine Mortland – 1st in Medical Diagnostic Coding, Video Production Team,
• Edward Nubile – 1st in Computer Modelling
• Kaitlyn Runia – 1st in Digital Marketing Concepts
• Keaton Runia – 1st in Device Repair and Troubleshooting, Video Production Team
• Evan Schotzko – 1st in Conference Ideas and Event Planning
• Braxton Seifert – 1st in Personal Financial Management
• Cloie Stevens – 1st in Entrepreneurship, Human Resource Management
• Augie Sturrock – 1st in Financial Math and Analysis Concepts, JAVA Programming
• Brennen Thooft – 1st in Basic Spreadsheet Applications
