Polson BPA students advance to national competition
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
POLSON — It’s a first: four students from the Polson High School Business Professionals of America qualified to attend the National Leadership Conference April 25-29 in Chicago, Ill. To advance to national, PHS seniors Megan Pope, Clint Cooper, Kelsey Koberg and freshman Sam Heutmaker built a website, which earned them second place at the state competition.
Of the more than 1,300 students from 81 Montana schools who competed in Billings state event, eight students from Polson qualified for state, the biggest group ever, according to Dustin Herbert, BPA advisor.
The theme each BPA website design team was given was informing users about First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, and the Polson group has been working on the website since October.
The coding was all hand-typed, “several portions of it at 2 a.m.,” Cooper noted.
All the work was done after school, since PHS does not offer a BPA class. That’s sometimes difficult as Herbert and Ceth Eslick, PHS computer guru, were not always available for advice. The group spent many late nights and Sundays at Pope’s house constructing their website.
While Cooper and Heutmaker did the coding, Koberg and Pope researched, gathered photographs and worked on colors to make the website more aesthetically pleasing. The students cross-trained each other so everyone knew all the ins-and-outs of the project. BPA rules allow judges to question each team member about all aspects of the website. Also, after the state competition, no more additions or corrections may be made to the website.
To view the students’ work, go to www.letsmovePolson.org.
Even with qualifying for nationals and with a great website, the students need to raise money for airfare and hotels. Local business Navigator Travel found great prices on airfare, and the group received a donation from Polson Rotary and parental contributions.
The main fundraiser will be a spaghetti feed and silent auction at the Mission Valley Elks on Saturday, April 21 fro 4 to 8 p.m. The Elks generously donated their facility and their cooks. For a $5 admission fee, community members can enjoy food, live music, a silent auction and help the BPA students travel to Chicago.
To donate items for the silent auction, call Polson High School at 883-6351.
