Ryan Ackermann, Mikayla Moles, Jessica Pelfrey and Bailey Schultz attended the 2014 Business Professionals of America (BPA) National Conference and Competition in Indianapolis April 29 through May 3. The students received several honors, trained and served as interns, and were selected by state leadership to participate in the Ohio caucus where they interviewed national office candidates. “Once again the National Leadership Conference was a great experience for learning new things and meeting new people,” said Bailey Schultz.
The Batavia High School chapter received the Quality Chapter Distinction as one of BPA’s most involved and active chapters. At the Honor Awards session, the chapter accepted the Special Olympics Award for their commitment to supporting Ohio’s Special Olympics athletes. Only one chapter was selected for the award at the national level. The chapter also received one of five Safety Awareness Awards and was selected as a Chapter of Excellence. To date, the Batavia chapter has earned more BPA Cares Awards, honor awards for community service and chapter activities, than any other chapter in the nation. In addition, senior Mikayla Moles was awarded one of ten national scholarships.
Seniors Mikayla Moles, Jessica Pelfrey, and Bailey Schultz received their Ambassador Torch Award for the second time. The Torch Award program guides a BPA member’s leadership and service to their chapter, school and community. The Ambassador level is the highest level students can achieve. It is rare for a student to complete enough community service to qualify for the award a second time. Batavia BPA advisor Angie Kovacs said, “These girls are exceptional. It is amazing to have a student receive the award a second time and to see these three girls do it together is amazing.”
The students also competed against over 5,000 students from across the nation. Jessica Pelfrey earned 13th place for her Economic Research Project about financing a college education.
Mikayla Moles earned 13th place for her Presentation Management competition about business customs in Japan. Ryan Ackermann competed in Banking and Finance and Bailey Schultz competed in Desktop Publishing.
BPA is a national organization for high school students that include activities and programs that complement classroom instruction by giving practical experience and the opportunity to apply skills learned in the classroom. Ryan, Jessica, Mikayla and Bailey are enrolled in the Legal Management Batavia High School satellite program offered through Great Oaks ITCD.