County schools send students to compete at state

Students from St. Regis and Superior traveled to the Business Professionals of America State Competition last week.

Alberton students who had qualified ended up choosing not to go, according to advisor Kent Haab, who added they decided to do something locally.

St. Regis advisor Kassie Cheesman said that none of the students that competed at state ended up making it on to nationals, but noted they did really well.

“We had a great time,” Cheesman said. “We had a lot of students who were there for their first year and so they got some experience. They went and gave it their best try.”

Cheesman said they were going against some of the best in the region.

“I’m hoping they have a better understanding for when they go next year,” Cheesman said. “I hope they’ve gotten some good experience from this and for when they get out into the real world as well.”

From Superior, two teams and one student ended up qualifying for Nationals, which will be held in Washington D.C.

Kelsey Stenberg, Ryan Bowers and Cary Chamberlain formed a video production team and took first place at the state competition. The video they made was on the dangers of texting while driving.

The computer animation team of Daniel McGuinness, Theresa Rosheim and Tiphanie Erickson took second place for their animation of a superhero.

Michele Reinelt took second place in word processing skills and qualified for state.

Superior also had a lot of students place in their respective areas of competition. They were just a bit shy of making it on to the next round.

Kate Bullock and Kinzie Cooper, working together to design a Web site, took fourth place. If they had placed third, they would have received a $500 scholarship. Jamie Toivonen, Superior BPA advisor, said that’s she’s sure they will be able to get it next year.

“They did wonderful and I am sure they will be receiving that scholarship next year,” Toivonen said.

  Rhandy Cox took a sixth place finish in desktop publishing. Broadcast news team of Aaron Morse, Aaron Lowman and Trevor Bailey took sixth place. Jeff Price, Myranda Kuhl and Tanner Smith, all who formed a Web site design team, took a sixth place finish.

Michele Smith took an eighth place finish in digital media production. Reinalt also grabbed a tenth place finish in interview skills.

“The students did a wonderful job.  They competed so well and I was really proud of them,” said Toivonen.

As well as competing, the group got to listen to a speaker who did chalk art. They were also able to attend several workshops that related to cyber safety, interviewing techniques and safety beyond high school.

Students also took several business-related tests.

The National Competition in Washington D.C. will be held May 4-8.

Business Professionals of America is the leading CTSO (Career Technical Student Organization) for students pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology and other related career fields.

BPA has more than 51,000 members in over 2,300 chapters in 23 states. BPA is a “co-curricular” organization that supports business and information technology educators by offering curriculum based on national standards.

Resources and materials are available on-line and designed to be customized to a school’s program.

The mission of Business Professionals of America is to contribute to the preparation of a world-class workforce through the advancement of leadership, citizenship, academic, and technological skills.