The Sandpoint chapter of the Business Professionals of America (BPA) competed at the state level this weekend at the Idaho Association of Business Professionals of America Leadership Conference at Boise State University in Boise, ID.

“The state BPA experience is really fun and I learned a lot about business,” first year junior member Corinne McClelland said.

The state conference closely resembled the regional conference that students attended and competed at last fall in Coeur d’Alene, but on a much larger scale.

“Regionals are a whole lot less competitive – some people were just there or were forced to be there for a club, but then some [people] really did want to be there. State is a bigger deal [than regionals],” BPA president Rachel Royse said.

Students competed in a variety of events throughout the course of the conference with skills learned in many different PTE department classes.

The following are the finalists eligible to compete at the national level in Anaheim, CA later in the spring:

• Bruce Bales – PC Servicing and Troubleshooting – 1st place
• Anthony Mione – PC Servicing  and Troubleshooting – 2nd place
• LaCheale Linscott – Basic Office Systems and Procedures – 3rd place
• Bruce Bales – Computer Network Technology – 3rd place
• Daniel Durfee  – Advanced Office Systems and Procedures- 4th place
• Anthony Mione – Computer Network Technology – 4th place
• Corey Calvert – Computer Network Technology – 5th place

India Miller and Zach Gillenwater were both recognized with a medal for their placement in the top 10 of their event, but are not qualifying competitors for the national conference.  Miller competed in Integrated Office Applications and GIllenwater in PC Servicing and Troubleshooting.

“This is the first year that we have officially participated in BPA. I’ve had students before that have taken the tests that Mrs. Nieman offers when we had overlapping students, but this was the first time that I took my own students,” adviser Alex Gray said.

Many students were very surprised when they heard their names being called as finalists in each of their events.

“During my event I did not think I did very well because of the time restraints. I knew I made a few mistakes so I was very surprised when I was called,” vice president and senior LaCheale Linscott said.

Although not all individuals eligible for nationals will be able to attend, those that are currently planning on attending [nationals] are preparing for the new experience.

“Nationals will have a lot more people than I am used to. It will be weird competing against the whole country and not just the state of Idaho,” Linscott said.

The Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference will take place May 6-10 in Anaheim, CA.