BTC Students Put to the Test at State Competition

Wisconsin Technical Colleges offer students unique opportunities to gain hands-on experience in their career areas through involvement in student organizations. Blackhawk Technical College is no exception to this. As members of Business Professionals of America (BPA), students are provided opportunities to apply their skills and knowledge in career-related competitive events of their choosing at the BPA State Leadership Conference.

According to BPA advisor and Business Management instructor Joel Schleusner, "The BPA state and national conferences give students a chance to use their knowledge gained at BTC in a different context. This is especially true in the judged events where they react to cases and scenarios and display their knowledge to experienced judges."

This year's conference activities were held virtually, and students who placed in the top three will advance to the national competition later this spring. "The Blackhawk Tech chapter of BPA has a great recent history of performing well in state and national competitions. Each year, it is impressive to see a new group of talented students join the club. This year's group has been particularly enjoyable as they have been very visible at the state level through their participation in non-competitive activities as well as the competitions," said Joel.

BTC students competed in several categories, earning seven first-place finishes. Here are the students and their competition results:

• 1st Place – Entrepreneurship
• 2nd Place – Banking & Finance
• 2nd Place – Ethics & Professionalism

• 1st Place – Advanced Interview Skills
• 1st Place – Ethics & Professionalism
• 1st Place – Digital Marketing Concepts
• 2nd Place – Business Law & Ethics
• 2nd Place – Administrative Support Concepts
• 2nd Place – Project Management Concepts
• 3rd Place – Parliamentary Procedure Concepts
• 3rd Place – Digital Communication & Design Concepts
• 3rd Place – Information Technology Concepts

• 1st Place – Advanced College Accounting
• 1st Place – Management, Marketing & Human Resources Concepts
• 2nd Place – Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications
• 3rd Place – Managerial Accounting
• 3rd Place – Financial Math & Analysis Concepts

• 2nd Place – Fundamental Word Processing
• 3rd Place – College Accounting
• 3rd Place – Business Law & Ethics

In team events, Josh Lichtfuss, Natalie Sullivan, and Mallory Worden came in 1st place in the Small Business Management Team competition.

• Outstanding Chapter Member Award – Josh Lichtfuss and Natalie Sullivan
• Mike Tokheim Scholarship – Natalie Sullivan
• Executive Level Torch Award – Mallory Worden
• Wisconsin BPA Community Service Award – Blackhawk Tech for their Holiday Toy Drive

Getting involved in co-curricular activities such as BPA is an excellent way for students to build their resumes. "BPA and other student organizations provide an opportunity for students to network and to further explore their areas of study. Some great relationships are built outside of the classroom," said Joel.

While BPA tends to attract students in business-related majors, it is open to all career and technical education students. BPA has over 45,000 members in more than 1,800 chapters across 25 states and Puerto Rico. The organization enhances student learning by offering educators co-curricular exercises based on national standards. To learn more about BPA, contact Joel at jschleusner@blackhawk.edu or bpa.org for more information.

# # #