Business Professionals of America (BPA) 2023 National Competition
Eight Business Professionals of America (BPA) members, high school students representing the Dr. Gene Burton College and Career Academy (GBCCA), competed with approximately 6450 students from over 500 BPA Chapters in the 2023 National Leadership Conference (NLC), held Wednesday-Saturday, April 26-30, in Anaheim, CA. All eight students made national finals and finished in top five internationally!!
The GBCCA Competitors in the BPA 2023 NLC. Students: (front row bench, l-r) Aiden Castillo, Casey Ong, Sydnie Pemberton; (back row, l-r) Carson Skaggs, Isaac Fortner, Alba Gutierrez-Cucurull, Iris Gonzalez, Holly Niemeyer;
(not pictured) BPA Chapter co-advisors Misty Rayson, Naposhi Amos, Marcia Eddy, and Jeff Burkham.
EVENT CATEGORIES
Our 8 students hail from both Rockwall High School (RHS) and Rockwall Heath High School (RHHS), competing as one GBCCA BPA chapter in Individual and Team events. Members advanced through Regionals and State by winning or placing in their specific competitions. Students who competed at State have earned an RISD 2023 BPA Letter and respective RHS/RHHS Career Technology Education (CTE) Letterman Jacket.
OVERALL RESULTS SUMMARY
Our BPA students competed in one individual event, winning 3rd place in nation. In three team events, our students won national third place in one event, and 4th and 5th in the other two. This is our first national championship in which all members won their national preliminaries, and became national finalists, and finished in the top 5 nationally. Despite the ‘National’ competition name, BPA NLC includes international competitors representing countries as far away as China.
Casey Ong won national 3rd place in Advanced Desktop Publishing (ADP 405). She is also the Texas 2023 Texas State Gold Medalist.
Holly Niemeyer, Sydnie Pemberton, and Iris Gonzalez advanced through national semifinals, and the next morning in the national finals, won 3rd place honors in the nation in Visual Design Team (VDT 460). They are also the Texas 2023 State Bronze Medalists.
Carson Skaggs and Alba Gutierrez-Cucurull advanced through national semifinals, and the next morning in the national finals, won 4th place honors in the nation in Network Design Team (NDT 325). They are the also the Texas 2023 State Gold Medalist NDT champions.
Isaac Fortner and Aidan Castillo advanced through national semifinals, and the next morning in the national finals, won 5th place honors in the nation in Computer Animation Team (CAT 440). They are also the Texas 2023 State Bronze Medalists.
