Dodge Center, MN – 34 students from Triton’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) chapter participated in the annual State Leadership Conference held March14-16, 2024 in Minneapolis, where over 1,400 students competed. Triton crowned two State Champions, 7 National Trip Winners, 22 Top 10 Finishers, and was recognized as a Gold Chapter for Membership Excellence
“I can’t reiterate enough how proud I am of all of our kids,” said Advisor Rebecca Goossens. “This is the most students Triton has ever had qualify for State, which is a huge achievement in and of itself, and they are all such amazing and talented individuals.”
Bringing home the championship trophies and earning trips to Nationals were juniors Corey Lilledahl for Presentation Individual and Bryar Quimby for the MN Trading Pin Design Contest, while the sophomore Website Design Team of RoséLyn Liudahl and Jade Scovill snapped up a second-place finish, and the Video Production Team of seniors Noah Kleinwort, Alex Oritz, and Quinn Short took the podium in third place. Also gracing the stage at the Grand Awards Ceremony was junior Camila Medina for placing fourth in Graphic Design, senior Danielle Hallaway for placing fifth in Health Research, and sixth-place finishers junior Katya Wheeler in Computer Modeling and the Broadcast News Team of sophomore Diego Ibarra-Castillo and juniors Litany Peterson and Jessica Willette. The Podcast Team of seniors Joaquin Lundi, Max Olson-Ramer and Jairo Solano and the Small Business Management Team of Tyler Gnagey, Hallaway, Lilledahl, and Logan Tufte nabbed a spot in the Top 10 by finishing seventh, while junior Axel Reiser placed eighth in Desktop Publishing, as did the Visual Design Team of Quimby and Ashley Romero. Rounding out the Top 10 Finalists were Kleinwort for Web Design and sophomore Frankie Gann for Digital Media Production.
“We compete against schools at State whose chapters have around 150-175 members. That’s almost two-thirds the size of our entire high school, so the fact that we continue to succeed and at such a high level is no small feat. It’s a huge testament to how awesome our students truly are,” said Goossens.
During the school year, over 1,800 Minnesota BPA student members took part in the organization’s competitive events program, allowing them to compete in nearly 70 events focused in the areas of business administration, finance & accounting, information technology, video production, human resources, computer programming, graphic design, small business & entrepreneurship, and health services. The competitions are designed to prepare students to succeed and assess real-world business skills and problem solving abilities. After qualifying earlier this year, regional winners put their talents to the test during the State Leadership Conference.
This May, Lilledahl, Quimby, Kleinwort, Ortiz, Short, Liudahl and Scovill will travel to Chicago, IL to compete with thousands of top students from across the United States at the 59th Annual National Leadership Conference – the pinnacle of BPA competition.
Hector Ibarra is interviewed on the Red Carpet.
The Video Production Team of Noah Kleinwort, Quinn Short, and Alex Ortiz show off their 3rd Place, National Trip winning trophy.
Bryar Quimby wins the MN Trading Pin Contest. Bryar's pin design will be produced for all MN BPA members to trade with other states at the National Conference.
Jade Scovill and RoseLyn Liudahl take 2nd Place in Website Design Team.
Jairo Solano, Joaquin Lundi, and Max Olson-Ramer finished 7th for Podcast Team.
The Small Business Management Team of Danielle Hallaway, Logan Tufte, Tyler Gnagey, and Corey Lilledahl show off their Top 10 Finalist medals.
Corey Lilledahl is crowned State Champion in Presentation Individual.
Camila Medina, Anna Anderson, and Ben Crofton serve as Voting Delegates in the State Officer Elections.
Diego Ibarra-Castillo, Litany Peterson, and Jessica Willette prepare for News Broadcast.
Logan Skjeveland, Frankie Gann, and Miley Dostal show off their Visual Design storyboard.
The Visual Design Team of Bryar Quimby and Ashley Romero show off their designs before presenting.