Accounting student Tracy Adamson elected BPA national president
Fifteen students from the Business Professionals of America chapter at Dakota County Technical College made an exceptionally strong showing in the competitive events held at the BPA 2013 National Leadership Conference, “Uncover Your Magic,” May 8–12 in Orlando, Fla. The students qualified to attend the NLC after placing at the BPA State Leadership Conference, which took place in October 2012 in Walker, Minn. Every participating student from DCTC placed in an event at the national level.
Lyle Stelter, an accounting instructor and BPA faculty advisor, has been involved with BPA for more than 20 years. Stelter was impressed by the caliber of students he and Marie Saunders, also an accounting instructor and BPA advisor, brought to Orlando.
“Competing in the Business Professionals of America Workplace Skills Assessment Program changes the lives of students,” Stelter said. “Students prove the competence they have acquired in career programs at the college. Many students don’t realize how much they have learned and how advanced they will be in the workplace. This year—for the first time in my tenure as an advisor—100 percent of our students won a national award.”
Kathryn Lunn, 31, a Legal Administrative Assistant major from Prior Lake, Minn., placed in three competitive events, including a third in Prepared Speech. “The lights and atmosphere during the awards ceremony reminded me of the Academy Awards,” Lunn said. “It was amazing to hear my name called and then seeing my fellow students cheering and shaking their light-up maracas.”
Tracy Adamson, an Accounting major, serves as president of the DCTC BPA chapter and recording secretary for the Minnesota Association of Business Professionals College Division. Adamson took her leadership talents to the next level at the NLC when she was elected president of the National Association of Business Professionals College Division. She also took first place in the Entrepreneurship and Presentation Management Team competitive events. She finished fourth out of 450 in the National Merit Scholar Test.
“I am very honored to be elected national president of BPA,” Adamson said. “I am also very proud that everybody from DCTC placed in the top 10 at the national competitions.”
“Tracy shined at the NLC,” said BPA Advisor Stelter. “She has a quiet servant leadership style. Students across the nation realized Tracy is a born leader and the top candidate for the highest student office at the BPA college level.”
For Marie Saunders, the trip to Orlando, represented her first national experience as a first-time BPA advisor. She reported that the DCTC group stayed at the Walt Disney World Dolphin, a resort hotel at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. “I felt a huge sense of pride in our students,” she said. “Winning so many awards is a validation of the education they receive at DCTC. Seeing them up on stage was like watching my kids win.”
DCTC BPA chapter competitor results
- Tracy Adamson | Accounting major
- Elected President of the BPA National Association–Postsecondary Division
- Entrepreneurship: 1st place
- Presentation Management Team: 1st place
- National Merit Scholar Test: 4th place (out of 450 contestants)
- Clay Carlson | Multimedia and Web Design major
- Fundamentals of Web Design Certification: 1st place
- Web Site Design Team: 6th place
- Avgust Evseev |Business Management major
- Small Business Management Team: 5th place
Mitch Hartke | Accounting major
- Presentation Management Team: 1st place
- Managerial Accounting: 5th place
- Advanced Accounting: 6th place
- Business Meeting Management: 10th place
- Christina Halley| Legal Administrative Assistant major
- Advanced Office Systems and Procedures: 4th place
- Legal Office Procedures: 8th place
- Trevor Henderson | Accounting major
- Small Business Management Team: 5th place
- Leslie Julius | Accounting major
- Small Business Management Team: 5th place
- National Merit Scholar Test: 7th place (out of 450 contestants)
- Neil Klein | Executive and Administrative Assistant major
- Presentation Management Team: 1st place
- Banking and Finance: 4th place
- Chontae Koonkaew | Accounting major
- Presentation Management Team: 1st place
- Kayla Kroll| Accounting major
- College Payroll Accounting: 8th place
- Kathryn Lunn | Legal Administrative Assistant major
- Prepared Speaking: 3rd place
- Contemporary Issues: 5th place
- Integrated Office Systems: 7th place
- Jeffrey Machacek | Software Development major
- Visual Basic Programming Certification: 1st place
- Visual Basic Programming: 4th place
- Web Site Design Team: 6th place
- Java Programming: 8th place
- Clement Ngwa | Accounting major
- Small Business Management Team: 5th place
- Banking and Finance: 6th place
- Vadym Snesrud | Accounting major
- College Accounting: 1st place
About Business Professionals of America
Business Professionals of America is the leading CTSO (Career Technical Student Organization) for students pursuing careers in accounting, business management, office administration, information technology and other related career fields.
BPA has more than 51,000 members in more than 2,300 chapters in 23 states. BPA is a co-curricular organization that supports business and information technology educators by offering curriculum based on national standards. The Workplace Skills Assessment Program (WSAP) prepares students to succeed and assesses real-world business skills and problem solving abilities in finance, management, IT and computer applications. WSAP is BPA’s showcase program and facilitates students demonstrating their career skills at regional, state and national conferences.
To learn more about the Accounting program and the BPA student chapter at DCTC, contact:
- Lyle Stelter
Accounting Instructor
BPA Faculty Advisor
651-423-8423 - Marie Saunders
Accounting Instructor
BPA Faculty Advisor
651-423-8390
To learn more about Office Careers programs at DCTC, contact:
- Charlotte Kodner
Office Careers Instructor
651-423-8428 - Susan Johanson
Office Careers Instructor
651-423-8239
To learn more about Multimedia and Web Design at DCTC, contact:
- DeAnn Engvall
Multimedia and Web Design Instructor
651-423-8457 - Peter Skoro
Multimedia and Web Design Instructor
651-423-8530
