On Friday, January 24, the Business Professions of America team left school for an annual day trip to Anoka Ramsey Community College for a region wide-competition which offered the possibility to qualify for state.

BSM brought 56 members to the competition. Blaine and St. Micheal were the only schools to have more students than BSM. Led by John Sabol and BPA President Spencer Krelitz, students competed in 26 different events across many different types of business. “I had a great time with my friends and classmates on Friday, I liked doing something I enjoyed doing while also representing my school at the same time,” sophomore member Max Benning said. 

BSM brought great energy to the event, the 56 members were loud and proud when they heard BSM introduced. “I was very proud of the way we came out, we brought tons of energy and everyone could tell BSM was ready to go,” Krelitz said. 

All students were required to participate in at least three events. A student could choose to participate in an event by themselves, or on a team of two to four members. The events included tests, projects, speeches, and research papers. Each BPA member could choose what fit them best. “I took a business ethics test and an accounting test, both of which I took classes on at Benilde with Mr. Sabol,” Max Benning said. 

Max had already taken two business classes at BSM, but future BPA members should note that for most events no prior knowledge is required. 

Red Knight BPA left school at 7 am on Friday morning and were at Anoka Ramsey Community College until about 1:30.”The timing of the event was amazing; I enjoyed being able to miss classes for a day to have fun with my boys and free food, especially after a long and tiring week of finals,” Benning said. 

In the end, 20 members of the team are going to state. Those 20 members will be looking forward to the competition that is happening on March 6. The team will spend their time from now until then preparing for their events.  BPA president Spencer Krelitz was happy with the end turn out. “I had a lot of fun at the event, and I am sure most others would say the same. I am very pleased with the results of the event,” Krelitz said.