Northwood University’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) team posted some strong performances as it competed in the state post-secondary leadership conference the week of March 1-5.
The competition was held virtually this year, but the Northwood team was thankful to still have the opportunity to compete against other schools such as Central Michigan University, Alma College, Davenport University, Montcalm Community College and Lake Superior State University/Bay College.
Northwood students dominated the competition with 26 students placing in the top three of their respective categories, which qualifies them to compete at nationals. A total of 13 of those students finished in first place, making them the state champions in their areas of competition.
“The BPA National Leadership Conference is also being held virtually this spring,” said Julie Adamczyk, BPA advisor for Northwood.
“We are confident our NU BPA students will bring home multiple awards from nationals and represent Northwood well like they historically do.”
First place finishers for Northwood included:
Jon Perrault – Presentation Management AND Advanced Desktop Publishing
Olivia Haring – Interview Skills
Austin Ashley – Prepared Speech
Noah Koenigsknecht – Advanced College Accounting
Riley Rajewski – Advanced Spreadsheet Applications
Henry Xiong – Computer Network Technology
Carson Cooley – College Accounting
Hailey Hochstetler – College Payroll Accounting
Luke Harry – Database Applications AND Integrated Office Applications
Madison Kolich – Ethics & Professionalism
Grace Dutoi – Legal Office Procedures
Alex Marashai – Intermediate Word Processing
Rounding out the medal winners for Northwood were Mikayla Philp, Jordan Bissell, Drew Minkina, Carlie McCarthy, Blake Adams, Skylar Sherman, Molly Kitson, Emily Buffa, Raegan Sharp, Kameron Haag, Calista Shannon, Ivan Yoder, Samantha Handley and Nathan Bauer all with top three finishes.
Northwood’s BPA Chapter President Randall Madison says: “I am very proud of our organization this year,” said Randall Madison, Northwood BPA chapter president. “They went through ups and downs due to the online competition. Although it was online, we know when it comes to the competition dates Northwood is going to be on top. So, great job to all members this year, and good luck to all members who will be competing in nationals this year.”
The annual conference hosted more than 5,500 students from all over the United States. BPA is an organization for high school and collegiate students pursuing careers in business management, information technology, finance, office administration and other related career fields with 45,000 members in over 1,800 chapters across 25 states and Puerto Rico.
