Due to COVID-19, the in-person Ohio Business Professionals of America (BPA) State Leadership Conference was cancelled; however, virtual events were held and judged to give students an opportunity to compete. Ohio Hi-Point’s BPA chapter at Riverside High School had 23 students place in the top 10 and 15 who qualified for the BPA National Leadership Conference.
The BPA chapter is made up of students enrolled in Ohio Hi-Point’s Media Arts and Business & Administrative Services programs at Riverside High School. The programs are taught by Michelle Weadock and Lindsay Wyan, respectfully. They also serve as the BPA co-advisors.
“Having the students compete in virtual events provided another learning opportunity as they needed to be self-motivated and learn new technology to compete,” said Wyan.
The following students would have advanced to the BPA National Leadership Conference:
- Sierra Snow, Kale Long, Ethan Jackson, and John Zumberger, 1st place, Small Business Team
- Kyrsten Poe, 2nd place, Advanced Word Processing Skills
- Roz Estep, Malaina Jenkins, and Sasha Stotler, 2nd place, Economic Research Team
- Alania Snow, 3rd place, Prepared Speech
- Peytan Jenkins, 3rd place, Basic Office Systems and Procedures
- Rachel Taylor, 3rd place, Interview Skills,
- Hannah Cooper, 4th place, Legal Office Procedures
- Chase Davidson, 4th place, Banking and Finances
- Allison Buchenroth, 4th place, Intermediate Word Processing
- Sam Fleming, 5th place, Fundamentals of Web Design
- Kaylee Williams, Photography
Sasha Stotler, a sophomore, designed one of the winning pin designs for the BPA State Leadership Conference. Stotler’s pin would have been on every attendee’s business attire at the Ohio BPA State Leadership Conference and been traded to other states’ students at the National Leadership Conference.
In total, the OHP/Riverside BPA chapter had a record-high 54 students participating at the state level; twenty-seven students were to receive their Statesman Torch Awards which highlight seven areas of personal development and service, and 45 students were taking part in judged and graded competitions.
“There has never been such a real-life example of preparing students for the business world as this was,” Weadock said of moving the competition to an online format.
Unfortunately, the BPA National Leadership Conference was cancelled due to COVID-19.