Conant BPA brings home 21 national qualifiers from state competition
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BPA Conant seniors attending state on Friday, February 28. -
Seniors Scott Anderson, William Chen, Glenn Huang, and Matt Meyers. -
Conant BPA members settling in for the opening ceremony. -
Conant BPA members taking their open contests. -
Senior Novak Petrovic and Anna Olsen (Schaumburg). -
Left to right: Juniors Shreena Patel, Rikin Patel, and Ayesha Mohan. -
Senior Mohan Chennakesavalu and junior Shreena Patel. -
Left to right: Seniors Mohan Chennakesavalu, Annie Egan, Riya Shah and Mohit Bandla. -
Senior Vishal Patel picking up his medal. -
Senior Yogi Patel picking up his medal. -
Freshman Aditi Katwala picking up her awards. -
Senior Kartik Kulkarni picking up his award. -
Left to right (last three): Shachi Solanki (junior), Jon Michael Alabado (senior), and Himani Vyas (junior) on stage for their event. -
Left to right: Neil Patel (senior), Rikin Patel (junior), Reina Patel (senior), and Reema Patel (senior) on stage for their event. -
Senior Annie Egan (third) on stage for her event. -
Left to right: Devan Patel (junior), Shreena Patel (junior), Anjali Patel (sophomore), and Keshav Patel (senior). -
Juniors Shreena Patel and Rikin Patel. -
A list of Conant's national qualifiers. -
A list of the 8 additional medalists at state.
Following the regional competition, almost 90 Business Professionals of America (BPA) members attended the State Leadership Conference (SLC) held in Oakbrook, IL between Thursday, February 26 and Saturday, February 28. Conant had an unprecedented 21 national qualifiers, eight additional medalists, and seven BPA IL Merit Scholars.
Half of the members attended Thursday for non-judged events (computer-based tests), and the other half attended Friday for judged events (presentations).
Patti Ertl, a BPA advisor and business education teacher, said, “Conant kids continue to make me so proud to be a Business Education teacher at Conant High School. I love seeing the hard work of our students pay off with state and national recognition. We’re kind of a big deal!
It is an impressive and unique achievement to include on your college applications and resumes to say that you were a BPA National Qualifier. In the past, Conant has had national winners and medalists, and I expect many of our kids to make the stage this year in Anaheim. I have high hopes in Kevin Chang, Class of 2015, as he is a four-year national qualifier and previous national winner in multiple events.”
Junior Himani Vyas placed second for Visual Basic/C# Programming (a computer programming event) and said, “It felt really awesome since there’s a lot of great competition out there, most of it being male. Being one of the few girls who participated in [the] computer events adds to it. To prepare, I looked at old tests and checked out a visual book from the library and studied from that. I plan on attending nationals since it’s [in] California; AP testing can wait.”
2014-2015 BPA nationals will be held in Anaheim, California from Wednesday, May 6 through Sunday May 10. AP testing will be occurring during this time; however, adjustments will be made for students to make up the tests after the regularly scheduled AP tests are completeled.
Smit Desai, a junior, was a top scorer in the Financial Math & Analysis Concepts test. He said that he was excited and surprised when they called his name, and he also plans on attending nationals.
Neerali Patel, a senior, placed fourth for Advanced Spreadsheet Applications and said, “I felt really accomplished when I was called up as a finalist for my event. I believe the preparation I had done each year helped me build skills to do well this year especially. I plan on going to nationals!”
Kishan Patel, a senior, placed first in Integrated Office Applications and said, “I was shocked when I heard that I had placed first for [my event]. This was my first year competing in this event, so it was a surprise! In order to prepare, I learned Microsoft Access- a program that I was never before exposed to- and had multiple reference books with me to look at.” He also mentioned that he and Neerali Patel always prepare together since they compete in the same event, Advanced Spreadsheet Applications.
Rikin Patel, a junior, and his Small Business Management Team consisting of Seniors Reema Patel, Reina Patel, and Neil Patel also placed first for their event. Patel said that when they found out they had won, they “were utterly shocked and ecstatic.” When they left the ballroom, they went “crazy in disbelief and shock.” He also said that they plan on attending nationals.
Click through the gallery above for a look at this year’s BPA state competition.
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