On Wednesday, January 8, Triton Business Professionals of America (BPA) students faced off against students from ten other schools across Southeast Minnesota at the Region 3 Leadership Conference. Over 350 students showcased their skills across nearly 30 competition categories, including Accounting, Interview Skills, Graphic Design, Digital Media Production, Website Design, Computer Modeling, Health Procedures, and more.
Triton continued their long-standing tradition of excellence by crowing 15 Event Champions and 28 total members win trips to the State Competition.
“I was excited that we had such a huge number of students who won State trips,” said Advisor Rebecca Goossens. “Then, I realized that of all our state qualifiers, almost half won 1st place in their event! What a testament to these students and their hard work.”
Founded in 1968, BPA aims to empower students by providing real-world opportunities in learning, professional growth, and service. With over 43,000 members nationwide and 2,000+ members across Minnesota, BPA helps students prepare for careers in business administration, finance & accounting, information technology, video production, human resources, computer programming, graphic design, small business & entrepreneurship, health services, and more. Students competed individually and in teams in a variety of categories where they demonstrated their knowledge and a variety of skills by taking a test, creating a project, giving a speech, or presenting to a judge.
“I look at how much time and dedication these students put into learning and demonstrating skills and how BPA has such an impact beyond their high school years, and I feel that it’s extremely important to celebrate their efforts, no matter how they placed,” said Goossens.
In addition to competing, students also participated in a service drive and gave back to the community through a donation drive to Family Promise of Greater Rochester, whose mission is to assist families at risk of or experiencing homelessness to achieve sustainable independence by providing person-centered, holistic services in collaboration with the greater community.
Students advancing from the regional competition will attend the State Leadership Conference in Minneapolis from March 6-8, 2025. Those succeeding at the State level will head to the National Leadership Conference in Orlando from May 7-11, 2025.
First Row: Genevieve Starkson, Jessica Hukee, Abrielle Emanuel, AJ Kozisek, Katya Wheeler, Diego Ibarra-Castillo, Alan Ortiz, Holly Harvey, Camila Medina, Ollie Akkerman, Miley Dostal
Second Row: Dora Chable, Anna Anderson, Hector Ibarra, Angel Mata Colin, Vika Kundel, EJ Okeefe, Salma Fernandez, Alisson Velasco, Anyely Dominguez, RoseLyn Liudahl, Jade Scovill
Third Row: Rebecca Goossens, Broden Dickie, Logan Skjeveland, Alekzander Wilcox, August Johnson, Frankie Gann, Corey Lilledahl, Ashley Romero, Abby Wirkus, Bryar Quimby
Vika Kundel competes in fundamental accounting.
Holly Harvey and Alan Ortiz prepare for their Broadcast News Team presentation
Hector Ibarra places second in Fundamental Spreadsheet
RoseLyn Liudahl, Jade Scovill, and Dora Chable are excited after presenting for Website Design Team
Corey Lilledahl, Region President, announces winners at the awards ceremony