by Jolie Jackson
Members of Friendswood’s Business Professionals of America program competed in their state qualifying competition on January 20, walking away with a total of 29 open event awards. All members will compete in the state competition on February 28.
Those who won their events include Maliha Khan in Fundamental Accounting, Jeffrey Otto in Advanced Accounting, Savannah Bolden in Payroll Accounting, Jackson Skeele in Personal Financial Management, Ria Rosete in Fundamental Word Processing, Vivian Fischer in Fundamental Desktop Publishing, Thaddeus Mayo in Presentation Individual, Carrie Durso in Health Administration Procedures, Evan Johnson in Java Individual.
All other advancers placed highly in their events as well. These individuals include Jacob Mayfield in Advanced Word Processing, Zoe Gonzalez in Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications, Siena Smith in Business Law & Ethics, Evan Johnson in Java Programming, Annahi Soto De Cerda in Human Resource Management, and Elly Gamero Payroll Accounting.
Along with the event awards, Carrie Durso achieved the title of Regional President for the Houston area.
“The election for Regional President was structured like a real presidency, so I had to convince voters with my campaign,” Durso said. “I gave a speech, talked to others about my campaign, and did an interview.”
The responsibilities include planning next year’s Regional Convention, running social media accounts, and spreading awareness about the program.
“I’m honored to be chosen for this position,” Durso said. “During my time as Regional President, I hope to grow our region and positively impact others.”
Like Durso, Members of BPA have been preparing for the past few months.
“Spending the time needed to prepare was definitely the hardest part,” advancer Evan Johnson said. “Now that we have advanced, we have even more time to strengthen our skills and improve.”
Using the experience from the regional competition, competitors hope to learn additional knowledge for a chance to place highly in the State Competition.
“For my time left to practice, I’m working on my time management,” advancer Ria Rosete said. “Most of my competitors who have advanced to state have the general formatting down, so it’s really about who completes it first.”
