State qualifiers of the Business Professionals of America chapter at
Chesterton High School brought back a number of awards and medals from the
State Leadership Conference in Indianapolis held March 10-12.
First place award winners at state include Joe Pejril for Computer Modeling
and Natalie Petro for Basic Office Systems and Procedures. Nathan Finke
received a second place award in Fundamental Spreadsheet Applications and a
sixth place award in Advanced Accounting. Eric Dreischerf placed third and
Christian O’Brien placed fourth in Extemporaneous Speeches.
Other state winners: Brade Wade – 6th in Human Resource Management; Anna
Jones – 7th in Fundamental Accounting; Molly McCoy – 7th in Advanced
Accounting; Will Levi – 6th in Computerized Accounting; Joe Hull – 6th in
Payroll Accounting; Joshua Ingram – 10th in Fundamental Spreadsheet
Applications; Evan Zondor – 9th in Advanced Spreadsheets; Alex Hughes – 10th
in Advanced Spreadsheets and 6th in Database Applications; Taryn Trusty –
10th in Integrated Office Applications; Kayla Malackowski – 6th in
Fundamentals of Desktop Publishing; Jesse Mudd – 7th in Basic Office
Systems; David Gutierrez – 9th in Computer Security; and Kevin Fekete 6th in
Computer Security.
In addition to the individual student awards, Chesterton High School was
named “Largest BPA Chapter in Indiana” for having 88 members in this
nationally recognized Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO). Anna
Jones was honored for her initiatives to donate used towels and blankets to
the Porter County Animal Shelter and to encourage CHS students to sign a
pledge to “Not Text and Drive.” Both of those ideas came about as Anna
worked on her BPA Torch resume listing her accomplishments in areas outside
of class in volunteer service.
Senior Eric Dreischerf served as vice president of public relations on the
State Officer Leadership Team this year and earned a Statesman Torch Award
for his efforts and accomplishments while a BPA member. Sophomore
Christopher Krause has been elected to serve on the State Officer Leadership
Team next year as the BPA District 1 President.