Business Professionals of America members from Doniphan West High School will be competing in the BPA 2021 National Leadership Conference in May.

Seven BPA students competed in the State Leadership Conference February 17 & 18 in various business, computer, presentation, and interview skill applications.  Each student participated in two events and at least two open events over the course of the two-day conference in Wichita, KS.

The following students have qualified to compete at Nationals:

2nd Place, Integrated Office Procedures - Jacob Blanton

5th Place, Intermediate Word Processing - Jacob Blanton

5th Place, Basic Office Procedures- Lilly Clark

Recognized for placing in the top ten in the State of Kansas for their event include:

4th Place, Interview Skills - Faith Collins

6th Place, Interview Skills - Lena Leatherman

4th Place, Advanced Interview Skills - Emma Albers

6th Place, Presentation Management - Emma Albers

Other students who participated at the State Conference included, Kody Goff and Taygen Reno.

Business Professionals of America is a national organization for middle school, high school, and college students preparing for careers in business and office occupations.  The organization’s activities and programs complement classroom instruction by giving students practical experience through application of the skills learned at school.  Business Professionals of America acts as a cohesive agent in the nationwide networking of education and business and industry, and is contributing to the preparation of a world-class workforce through the advancement of leadership, citizenship, academic, and technological skills. 

The Doniphan West BPA Organization advisor is Mrs. Jodi Leatherman, 7-12th grade business and technology teacher.  This is her second year to sponsor the group at DWHS. She states, “I am very proud of all of my students.  This was a learning year for us, as we competed in our first in-person competitions. We were also missing over half of our BPA members due to schedule conflicts with athletics.  I look forward to working with the students who qualified for Nationals and building our organization in future years.”

If you are interested in sponsoring a student to support them in their endeavors at national competitions, please contact Mrs. Leatherman at jleatherman@usd111.org.

Students participating in BPA State Competitions from Doniphan West High School (L-R) Faith Collins, Kody Goff, Jacob Blanton, Taygen Reno, Lilly Clark, Lena Leatherman and Emma Albers