Students place in top ten at BPA Nationals

The seven Superior Business Professional of America students weren't sure if they were going to get enough money to go to the BPA National Conference, but from May 6 through May 13, the students were in Anaheim, California, thanks to the support of the community.

Gordon Hendrick had the opportunity to escort the seven students-Bajin Smith, Haley Jacobson, Shealey Ray, Trevor Bailey, Jessica Yarnall, Michele Reinalt and Ryan Bowers.

"IT was phenomenal," Hendrick said. "These kids were just excellent. They were the best kids ever. And to be part of it was totally amazing. I was quite impressed by them."

Smith, Jacobson, Ray and Bailey ended up placing in the top ten for their video production project, a video featuring interviews with hometown hero Mary Dague. The four students got to walk across the stage and received medals for their efforts to hold onto as a keepsake. Yarnall also placed in the top ten individuals with Web site design and got to go up on the stage to receive her medal as well.

"For Superior to be up on that stage was absolutely incredible," Hendrick said. "To watch these students be up there and receive their awards was amazing."

Hendrick said that while Bowers, who went to the competition with Java Programming, and Reinalt, who competed in spreadsheet analysis, didn't get to go up on stage, he feels that they both did wonderful at the competition. He said that they have to wait for the official results, but guesses that Bowers probably wasn't too far behind the top three. He also said that Reinalt was happy with what she was able to accomplish at the competition.

"This definitely says that we got a great afterschool program. These are kids self motivated for business or whatever," Hendrick said. "They got their life lined up. These kids stepped up and I think it's phenomenal. For them to continue their education in different way, and to be highly involved in other activities such as sports, says a lot."

While they were in California, the kids also were responsible for completing homework and the athletes also took the time to continue to work out and do what they needed to do to stay competitive. Hendrick said that they also had the opportunity to eat out at a couple of neat places and walked around to see a lot of the area had to offer. They visited Knotts Berry Farm, which houses amusement park rides, all while continuing to still prepare for the competition that was at hand. The students also got to meet a lot of other students from all over the United States.

"They were so well behaved. I never had one once of trouble with any of them," Hendrick said. "They got a long so good it was unbelievable. I was waiting for a shoe to fall so to speak, but they were great and they were all prepared."

Hendrick said that he feels it was a good experience for the kids and the opportunity through BPA provides them with opportunities that might not have necessarily had. He said that although what the students did was significant, he believed that watching the community rally behind them was the "best part."

"I'd really like to thank all the sponsors throughout the community that stepped up to bat and helped these kids be able to accomplish what they did in competing at Nationals," Hendrick said.