We love to give back, but we're pretty competitive, too!
The national program for assessing professional skills that students have obtained through BPA is known as the Workplace Skills Assessment Program (WSAP). Within WSAP are five different categories for events in which members can compete in at Leadership Conferences every year. Categories include: Finance, Business Administration, Management, Marketing & Communication, Management Information Systems and Digital Communication & Design. In total, there are over 70 competitive events. Within these are written tests, oral presentations, computer applications, or a combination thereof. Topics range from Economic Research to Medical Office Procedure to Spreadsheet Applications to Prepared Speech to PC Service and Troubleshooting. The WSAP allows students to formally showcase the business and career skills that they are developing, something that cannot be found anywhere else. Within BPA there are three divisions that compete: Middle Level, Secondary and Post-Secondary.
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After OJ DeJonge Middle School started the first Middle Level Chapter in the State of Michigan three years ago, they began to partake in local competitions every year at the local level, due to the lack of higher level conferences available to students of their age. Competing in nationally produced events from the WSAP program, students were able to test their professional skills similar to their high school counterparts. After founding the Michigan Middle Level Association and helping eight other schools through Michigan develop their own middle level chapters, OJ DeJonge students were able to compete in the first annual Middle Level State Leadership Conference in 2016, where they competed against students from all across the State of Michigan. The events these students compete in are similar to that of the secondary division, but fitted for 6th to 8th grade students. Students that place in the top rankings of their events at this conference are then able to attend the National Leadership Conference, alongside high school and college students.
THE 1st ANNUAL MICHIGAN MIDDLE LEVEL BPA
STATE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE DAVENPORT UNIVERSITY |
THE 44th ANNUAL MICHIGAN BPA SECONDARY
STATE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE AMWAY GRAND PLAZA Every year the LHS BPA chapter starts off the school year with members deciding upon which competitive events they would like to compete in at the Regional Leadership Conference (RLC). Our region (Region 8) our of ten in the state, holds the RLC at Central Michigan University in the beginning of January. If students place in the top six of any individual event, or in the top two of any team event, they qualify to compete at the State Leadership Conference (SLC) held in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a four-day long conference. In addition to competing, students have the opportunity to attend a professional development workshop series known as "Legacy Launchers", a college fair, a campaign rally for State Officers, and a formal dinner session at the SLC. If students place in the top ranks of their events at the SLC, they qualify to compete at the National Leadership Conference (NLC). This national conference brings in over 6,000 members from all three divisions of BPA every year and has a plethora of professional development activities for students to partake in, including internships and workshops.
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NATIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
The ALL NEW Michigan BPA Middle Level Association
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The hard work and dedication of OJ BPA over the past three years led to the formation of the Michigan BPA Middle Level Association, providing further professional and educational opportunities to middle school students across the State of Michigan. Davenport University, in partnership with the National BPA office and the Michigan Department of Education, has become the official sponsor of this exciting new endeavor. Davenport University's residential campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan will serve as the hosting site for future ML BPA State Leadership Conferences, and will play a vital role in developing the next generation of business leaders. For more information, visit the MI BPA Middle Level website here: https://webber5.davenport.edu/mlbpa/
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