Students from Midway High School’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) chapter excelled at this year’s state and national competitions, bringing home national champion titles in multiple events.
From left to right: (back row) Brady Jakus, Nick Collins, Jackson Armstrong, Azeroth MacArthur, Easton West, Gavin Millerick, Zach Williams, (front row) Peter Burris, Ben Loyd, Jamison Parker, Kanon Miller, and Andrew Block.
At the 2023 BPA National Leadership Conference held in April in Anaheim, California, Midway’s 12 national qualifiers competed for top honors in business and information technology skills events alongside students from across the country.
Midway had two Virtual Multimedia and Promotion teams finish in the top 10 at state to qualify for the national competition where Peter Burris and Ben Loyd earned the title of national champions and Jackson Armstrong, Nick Collins, and Azeroth MacArthur earned second place in the nation. Azeroth MacArthur and Jamison Parker were also named national champions in the BPA Ethics Awareness Video Challenge, and their prior first place win at state was accompanied by a $1,750 prize.
In addition, Midway’s Video Production team of Andrew Block, Kanon Miller, Gavin Millerick, and Zach Williams won second place at nationals after earning a second-place finish at state. Also competing at nationals were Brady Jakus in Advanced Desktop Publishing and Easton West in Banking and Finance who both qualified for the national competition after earning fifth place at state.
Several Midway BPA students who placed at state were also named national alternates.
The Presentation team of Isabel Adame, Lynette Demas, and Isaac Louis secured fifth place among the top teams in Texas, and Peter Burris earned an impressive eighth place in the Individual Presentation category.
Also placing at state: Nick Collins, Azeroth MacArthur, and Peyton Simmon finished among the top six Podcast Production teams in Texas, and both Tiffany Herrera in the Interview Skills event and Victoria Garcia in the Fundamental Word Processing event secured an eighth-place finish.
As part of one of the leading career and technical high school student organizations in the country, Midway BPA members are prepared for careers in business and information technology fields with numerous opportunities for growth through education, competitive events, and leadership development.
BPA sponsors who coached Midway’s state and national winners are Midway High School teachers Jami Courson, Susan Jones, Jennifer Kolb, Tanya Lacy, Dede Moore, Dana Null, and Kyle Rogers.
