News
MCC students gain valuable experience, take home awards from National BPA Conference
By Alex Freeman, MCC Communications Specialist
Montcalm Community College was well represented at the Business Professionals of America (BPA) National Leadership Conference on May 7-11 in Orlando, Florida, led by five qualifying students.
Beth Armstrong (Vestaburg, Mich.), Thomas Zinn (Vestaburg, Mich,), Tim Moffit (Belding, Mich.), Barbe Stevenson (Belding, Mich.) and Mary McQuarrie (Ionia, Mich.) each qualified for the National BPA Conference in February at the BPA State Leadership Conference in Grand Rapids. Competing in multiple disciplines, the students aimed to keep the momentum going on a much bigger stage, keeping the conference’s theme of “Capture the Moment” at the front of their minds.
Armstrong certainly captured the moment in a big way, placing first nationally in Advanced College Accounting and first in Managerial Accounting. She also took second place in Presentation Management Team along with Stevenson. Moffit took first place in Parliamentary Procedures Concepts and ninth in Health Administration Concepts. McQuarrie placed fourth in Promotional Photography while Zinn took ninth in Device Configuration and Troubleshooting. The five MCC students were accompanied on the trip by Computer Information Systems Lab Coordinator and BPA Co-Advisor Kristen Diehl.
It was a tremendous showing for the students, who gained valuable experience on a national level. Competing against the top talent offered students a fresh perspective and bringing home awards was a remarkable achievement.
“Kristen Diehl and I are very proud of what the students accomplished at this year’s National Leadership Conference,” said Bill Bishop, MCC Business and Accounting Instructor and BPA Co-Advisor. “Their hard work produced great results. Having students place first nationally in multiple events speaks volumes about the quality of students attending MCC as well as the high-level skills and knowledge they develop while studying here.”
BPA is the leading Career and Technical Student Organization for students pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology, finance, accounting office administration and other related career fields.
The 2026 BPA National Leadership Conference is scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tenn.