Holly Bashore said it's helping her learn more about business and possibly preparing for a career in business. “It's just a great way to get an introduction to the business world,” she said.
Brinkley Ward said BPA skills help her in all her high school classes. “Honestly, I learned how to be an adult,” said Ward. “I know how to communicate and act in a professional manner. It's helped me with presentation skills in other classes and just helps make every part of high school a lot easier.”
For Dawson Hamming, competing as a 10th grader gives him a better understanding of the business world and inspires him to continue as a BPA member.
“I feel like I can learn a lot more about business. It just helps me understand the whole business world better,” he said.
Turner Halle, who took over as club president this year and is hoping for a state council position, said he loves the competition because it gives him an opportunity to network with other like-minded students. “There's always going to be business and there's always going to be jobs in business,” said Halle. “This is just a great way to learn more and gain experience we'll be able to use in any career.”
Several members of the Thornapple Kellogg High School Business Professionals of America earned honors at the regional BPA competition Jan. 12 at Davenport University in Caledonia and many will advance to the state competition March 16-18.
The following students earned honors at the regional contest:
Sam Ogrodzinski – first in human resource management
Justin Scholten - first in entrepreneurship
Olivia Gaudreau - first in legal office procedures
Valerie McNamara - first in prepared speech
Turner Halle, Chaz Knorr, Sam Ogrodzinski and Justin Scholten – first place small business management team
Turner Halle - second place in computer programming concepts; third place in extemporaneous speech
Holly Bashore, Daisy Nowinsky, Dawson Hamming and Gavin Denman – third place presentation meeting team
Dawson Hamming - fourth in fundamental spreadsheets
Chaz Knorr - fifth in legal office procedures; fifth in business spelling
Daniel Hannapel - sixth in human resource management
Holly Bashore - seventh in interview skills
Other TK students who competed were Sam Dickman, Isaiah Guenther, Jalen Oliver, Logan Tolan and Conrad Zwyghuizen.