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BEA BPA members try their gavels at parli-pro

The BPA event allows students to learn how to run a formal meeting

By Fiona Green - Staff Writer | Nov 20, 2022

Blue Earth Area’s Parliamentary Procedure Team is pictured above. Seniors Cameron Hassing, Haley Kalis and Mya Steinhauer are pictured, left to right, in the front row. Freshmen Ava Peterson, Carol Schrader, Amelia Greff and Reed Sturtz are pictured, left to right, in the back row. They are coached by BEA High School teacher Holly Vogltance.

The old adage goes, ‘Never mix business with pleasure.’

Well, the Blue Earth Area (BEA) Business Professionals of America (BPA) team has chucked that adage to the wind.

Not only has BEA BPA embraced opportunities to learn more about the business world; they are having a lot of fun doing it. And, their attitude seems to have served them well.

Just last May, six BEA BPA students celebrated a triumphant trip to the BPA National Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas.

Four of those six students celebrated top-10 finishes at the conference in their respective events. Calvin Farrow finished in fourth place in fundamental accounting; Kyla Roiger took fifth place in fundamental spreadsheets; and Lilah Farrow scored ninth in legal office procedures.

Meanwhile, current BEA senior Haley Kalis secured an impressive first place finish in the health insurance and medical billing category.

Now, a new school year has begun, and BEA BPA is already hard at work preparing for a new round of leadership conferences – the first of which, the BPA Regions, is scheduled in January.

Students who do well will advance to BPA State in March, and BPA Nationals the following spring.

BEA BPA advisor Holly Vogltance shares that 38 students have joined the team this year, “Our biggest number yet.”

Seven of those students have chosen to compete in a team event this year: parliamentary procedure.

Parliamentary procedure, or parli-pro, one of many BPA events which students may choose to compete in, allows students to study the accepted rules, ethics and customs which govern the way meetings are held.

“Parliamentary procedure is running a formally-run meeting; passing motions,” Kalis summarizes. “On a big picture, it keeps (the meeting) under control.”

“You have to remember who says what, and when,” adds Cameron Hassing, another BEA BPA member who competed in Nationals last year. “That’s very important.”

Hassing and Kalis, both seniors, are competing alongside parli-pro team members Mya Steinhauer, also a senior, and freshmen Ava Peterson, Amelia Greff, Carol Schrader and Reed Sturtz.

Though BEA has had a parliamentary procedure team for the past five years, Vogltance notes that each member on this year’s team is competing in the event for the first time.

Vogltance is glad to have a large crop of freshmen going out for the event this year; she hopes they will continue to compete on BEA’s parli-pro team in the years to come.

“It gives me some hope for the future,” Vogltance says. “The more they practice, the better they’ll be.”

And practice, the team does.

In competition, parliamentary procedure teams are asked to prepare three separate meeting agendas based upon hypothetical meeting scenarios. After 15 minutes of preparation, the team is tested by a judge on their understanding of parliamentary procedure rules through their ability to professionally conduct the hypothetical meeting scenario they have been assigned.

Each team member is also given a specific role in the hypothetical meeting, such as president, vice president or secretary.

The entire performance necessitates lots of memorization. The team members must know opening and closing ceremonies by heart. They also need to know how to conduct specific procedures and how to pass a motion.

Additionally, the team needs to work fast at competition.

“You’re working under pressure,” Hassing explains. “You only have those 15 minutes to prepare different scripts.”

As part of the BEA parli-pro team’s training, Vogltance has enlisted the help of professional registered parliamentarians Miriam G. Simmons and Lucy Johnson.

“We met with them on Zoom a couple times,” Hassing recalls. “They gave us good resources. We also made up a list of questions we had, and they answered them really well.”

The parliamentarians also recommended a book to the team: “Robert’s Rules of Order,” a guide to parliamentary procedure which is used by many professional associations, fraternal organizations and local governments.

BEA’s parli-pro team pronounces the book “very helpful” in their studies.

The team members meet during lunch time to practice for upcoming BPA conferences.

“They’re active,” Vogltance observes. “That is why this lunch hour is good for meeting.”

The students seem more than happy to give up their lunch hour to parliamentary procedure study.

Steinhauer explains that of the many team events offered through BPA, parli-pro was one which intrigued her most.

“For BPA, you can do two individual events and one team event. This was the team event I found most interesting,” Steinhauer says.

Hassing, meanwhile, says, “I wanted to join parli-pro because it’s something different. Also, I get to be on a team.”

Schrader adds, “It’s probably a good life skill; something it’s good to know how to do.”

Her team members agree.

Steinhauer observes that practicing parliamentary procedure is a great way for students to develop public speaking skills.

“And building confidence,” Kalis adds, noting both skills are useful in real-life scenarios, such as job interviews.

Hassing, in fact, regrets that he did not join BEA’s parli-pro team earlier.

“I wish I’d done this my first year, so I could grow with it,” he admits.

Nonetheless, Hassing seems glad to have booked several years of general BPA experience, as does Kalis.

“Everybody should join BPA,” Kalis says, with a smile.