TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple High School chapter of Business Professionals of America (BPA) will be well-represented at the organization’s State Leadership Conference after 15 students qualified to compete on the state level. The 15 Temple High School students qualified through competition in a variety of events at the Texas BPA Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) last weekend in Mesquite.
Temple High School’s Nevaeh Tobe and Desary Serrano teamed up to win first place in Global Marketing at the RLC. The duo had to create and prepare a marketing plan for a Mental Wellness App geared toward high school students. The presentation included a slide show based on a research document covering aspects ranging from company goals to analysis of competition to pricing strategies. Tobe also won first place in Global Marketing last year. Serrano was new to the Global Marketing competition this year but was a state alternate in a different category last year. Both students are happy with their first-place finish and are looking forward to the opportunity to advance to state.
“I am really excited and kind of relieved,” Tobe, a senior at Temple High School said. “It was less stressful because I went through it last year. This has definitely helped me with public speaking, and I have learned to be a better presenter and really project my voice.”
“I really counted on my partner since she has been there before and it felt great to win and advance,” added Serrano, a THS junior. “This has really helped me expand my vocabulary and I want to go into the business field so it will also help me with that.”
Students in the Information Technology pathway also competed in the BPA Regional Leadership Conference for the first time this year. THS senior Carlos Gamez won first place in Server Administration Using Microsoft, and he also added a second-place finish in Information Technology Concepts to advance to state in two different categories. He plans to go into the cybersecurity field and credits his participation with BPA in helping him advance towards that goal.
“This is very rewarding. I already had the technical skills from working with computers on my own,” Gamez said. “But BPA has really helped me understand that I can do this and that I do have the technical skills to advance, even if I wasn’t sure before. I have been able to take something I was already doing as a hobby and turn it into something I can be rewarded for.”
Senior Houston Martin took second place in Entrepreneurship to claim his spot in the state conference. Martin submitted a business plan for a drive-through chips and salsa business, and he is looking forward to tweaking his presentation between now and the state competition.
“It was kind of a relief because we have put a lot of work into this. Now I have something else to work toward, and that is the state competition,” Martin said. “I will be sharpening up a couple of things and really working on my presentation skills. I have learned that ideas I have can come to life and I just need to make it happen.”
Mason Abbey, Steve Baca, Preston Calderon, and Adam Estrada will also advance to state after taking second place in Team Presentation. Abbey added a fourth-place finish in Intermediate Word Processing and Baca took fifth place in Advanced Word Processing. Andres Gomez qualified for state in two categories with a second-place finish in computer programming and a third-place finish in Information Technology Concepts. Victoria Carrizalez also qualified in two competitions after finishing third in Administration Support Concepts and fourth in Communications and Design. William Holle finished third in C++ Programming, Mira Nielsen took third place in Health Administration Procedures, Atharv Garg finished third in Banking and Finance, Bailey Knox finished fifth in Payroll Accounting, and Kayla Slauson finished fifth in Fundamental Word Processing. Each of those students will also compete at the State Leadership Conference. The State Leadership Conference will be March 5-8th in Dallas.
The number of state qualifiers this year is just over twice as many as the school had qualify last year. The organization’s growth continues to impress one of the chapter’s advisors, who says the competition gives students more than just an opportunity to compete and advance, it also gives them the chance to gain valuable experience and build skills they will continue to use long after the competition is over.
“We have been able to double the number of students we’ve had qualify for state each of the last three years and that is a blessing,” said Jessica Cuellar, CTE teacher and BPA co-advisor at Temple High School. “They all put so much into their projects and to see every student grow and flourish is just amazing. The experiences are just so important. They get to network and learn so much that is not just typical classroom learning. It is awesome to see the program grow, and these kids are just incredible.”
A total of 35 Temple High School students competed in events at the Regional Leadership Conference. THS Information Technology teacher Christian Mendez joined Cuellar as a chapter advisor this year with the addition of IT students to the competition. Top finishers at the State Leadership Conference will qualify to compete in the BPA National Competition. BPA allows students an opportunity to compete in contests in over 90 categories under six Assessment Areas including: Finance, Business Administration, Management Information Systems, Digital Communication & Design, Management, Marketing, & Communication, and Health Administration.