Fifty students from Marshall participated in the annual Minnesota Business Professionals of America (BPA) State Leadership Conference March 14-16, at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency with more than 1,100 members competing.

During the school year, 1,800 Minnesota BPA student members took part in the organization’s competitive events program, allowing them to compete in nearly 70 events focused in the areas of finance, business administration, management information systems, digital communication anddesign, and management, marketing and communication. The competitions are designed to prepare students to succeed and assesses real-world business skills and problem solving abilities. After qualifying earlier this year, regional winners put their talents to the test during the State Leadership Conference.

Students receiving state recognition include:

Claire Allen, Advanced Word Processing, 1st

Matthew Bauer, Fundamental Desktop Publishing, 4th

Mal Bingen, Computer Animation Team, 1st

Ryan Botsford, Device Configuration and Troubleshooting, 5th

Ben Brandl, Computer Modeling, 3rd

Brady Brandl, Computer Animation Team, 3rd

Madelyn Brockberg, Advanced Word Processing, 3rd

Madelyn Brockberg, Computer Animation Team, 1st

Loghan Conway, Medical Coding, 2nd

Loghan Conway, Computer Animation Team, 1st

Anna DeGroot, Server Administration Using Microsoft, 3rd

Anna DeGroot, Computer Animation Team, 1st

Jaina Dekker, SQL Database Fundamentals, 5th

Jaina Dekker, Server Administration Using Microsoft, 4th

Devon Jayasuriya, Computer Animation Team, 3rd

Layla Lindemann, Basic Office Systems and Procedures, 1st

Afsheen Mohamed Abusali, Fundamental Desktop Publishing, 3rd

Jasmine Mortland, Computer Security, 2nd

Eastyn Ochocki, Computer Security, 3rd

Xochitl Rodriguez Chavez, Medical Coding, 4th

AJ Runchey Smalley, Computer Animation Team, 3rd

Tyler Sprik, Computer Network Technology, 3rd

Tyler Sprik, Computer Security, 1st

Brennen Thooft, Advanced Spreadsheet Applications, 4th

This May, Afsheen Mohamed Abusali, Matthew Bauer, Tyler Sprik, Claire Allen, Madelyn Brockberg, Layla Lindemann, Ryan Botsford, Jaina Dekker, Anna DeGroot, Jasmine Mortland, Eastyn Ochocki, Brennen Thooft, Ben Brandl, Loghan Conway, Xochitl Rodriguez Chavez, Mal Bingen, Brady Brandl, Devon Jayasuriya and AJ Runchey Smalley will compete with thousands of top students from across the United States at the 59th annual National Leadership Conference — the pinnacle of BPA competition. Members will travel to Chicago, Illinois, in May.