The seven members of the Blue Earth Area BPA Club who attended the National Conference in Orlando are, left to right, Carter Rosenau, Grace Schavey, Aubrey Woodwick, Carol Schrader, Amelia Greff, Madelyn Ferguson, Annika Salisbury.

Seven members of the Blue Earth Area chapter of the Business Professionals of America attended the BPA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, May 7-11.

The BEA students were among the nearly 7,000 attendees representing nearly 800 school chapters who were in Orlando competing for top honors in BPA’s Workplace Skill Assessment Program competitions.

Those competitions cover the areas of business administration; digital communication and design; finance; health administration; information technology; and management, marketing and communication. Conference participants also attended leadership development workshops, received awards for community service activities, and elected BPA’s 2025-2026 national student leadership team.

The students from the BEA BPA who attended the conference were seniors Madelyn Ferguson, Carter Rosenau and Annika Salisbury; juniors Amelia Greff, Grace Schavey and Carol Schrader; and sophomore Aubrey Woodwick.

The students competed in categories including health administration procedures, advanced accounting, payroll accounting, legal office procedures, fundamental accounting, medical coding, health insurance/medical billing and business law and ethics.

One BEA student, Salisbury, was a top 10 finalist in payroll accounting and ended placing ninth.

“I was also in advanced accounting and I actually thought I would do better in that category,” Salisbury said. “I was very surprised when I made the top 10 in payroll accounting.”

All of BEA’s BPA participants said they were a little surprised at how tough the tests were.

“That seemed to be a common theme among the other chapter members we talked to,” BEA BPA advisor Holly Vogltance added. “Of course, you expect the tests to be more difficult at Nationals.”

The students arrived in Orlando on Wednesday, May 7. Some of them had their competitions the next day, on May 8.

“We were a little tired,” Salisbury admitted.

Part of the experience in attending Nationals is meeting students from across the country along with mixing in some fun while on their trip.

“I agree that the competition was harder than any we had seen before,” Woodwick mentioned. “So it was fun to mix in a trip to the beach while we were there.”

The students had arranged to go kayaking at night in glass-bottomed kayaks that are lighted by LED lights.

“Unfortunately, some thunderstorms rolled in and our excursion got canceled,” Vogltance said.

But they still had fun.

“I thought Disney Springs was fun,” Amelia Greff commented.

Although the tests were more difficult, Schavey shared that could end up being a good thing.

“They were tougher tests and the tests exposed us to things we weren’t familiar with,” Schavey said. “But that will also help us prepare for next year.”

BPA’s interim executive director, Devin Alexander, proclaimed that the National Leadership Conference is a milestone moment for student members and advisors, representing a year of dedication, growth and achievement.

“This event is more than just competitions,” Alexander stated. “It’s about developing leadership skills, earning industry certifications and celebrating the hard work that sets our members up for future success.”

“I just want to thank the individuals and organizations that donated funds to make this trip possible,” Vogltance commented. “The Blue Earth Lions Club, Lars Bierly, Blue Earth Kiwanis, Blue Earth Eagles, Blue Earth American Legion, the BEA Foundation and Blue Earth Community Foundation were very generous in their support of this program.”

Lastly, Vogltance wished to express how proud she is of her BPA students.

“You always hope for there to be some winners,” Vogltance concluded. “The truth is that it is just an honor to be one of the 7,000 students who made it to Nationals. In my mind, just the fact they are going makes them winners and they get a chance to gain some great new experiences.”