On March 7-11, 52 West Business Professionals of America students traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete on the national stage; breaking the BPA national record for the most students at nationals from a single chapter. After a few days of fun in the sun and competing, awards were announced in which 15 students placed 12th or higher. 

Finalists are listed below:

Economic Research Team: First, Audrey Crawford ’26 and Myra Crawford ’26

Presentation Individual: Fourth, Layan Ahmed ’25

Visual Design Team: Sixth, Fiona Graber ’25, Mackenzie Oberbroeckling ’25, Lucinda Maxwell ’25 and Brooklynne Nock ’25

Human Resources Management: Sixth, Audrey Crawford ’26

Graphic Design Promotion: Eighth, Anna Dickens ’25

Video Production Team: Eighth, Alison Asay ’26 and Susanna Olson ’27

Advanced Interview Skills: Ninth, Layan Ahmed ’25

Interview Skills: Ninth, Mackenzie Oberbroekling ’25

Video Production Team: 11th, Mia Ahn ’28 and Anika Kuppachi ’28

Human Resources Management: 12th, Gabriella Ciliberto ’27

Presentation Team: 12th, Oluwadara Olayleye ’27 and Oliver Knight ’27

After refining their competitive events all year, this conference gave BPA students the chance to display their hard work and further develop their professionalism and leadership skills. BPA Secondary President, and West student, Layan Ahmed ’25 led the conference and oversaw the student board elections as her final duties as national president.

Gallery • 5 Photos

BPA National President and executive board member Layan Ahmed poses with a poster showing the theme of the 2025 national BPA conference. Used with permission of Diane Fickel.

Members had the chance to explore the Gaylord Hotel and the numerous Disney and Universal parks during their time off. BPA member Susanna Olson ’27 took full advantage and visited both Magic Kingdom and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. 

“Orlando had a ton of stuff to do and I loved the people I went with. You can’t beat Disney and Universal,” Susanna said. 

On the last day of the conference to celebrate, BPA hosted a large party for all its students. This BPA bash was a great way to celebrate the closing of another successful BPA nationals and included food, a silent disco and alligator holdings.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Susanna Olson ’27 holds an alligator at the BPA ending conference party. Used with permission of Susanna Olson.

This conference also brought to a close Emily Hudackek’s involvement in West BPA. Hudachek, West High business teacher and BPA advisor, has accepted a position as a sponsored research coordinator for the University of Iowa and is leaving West High in the spring. Though she is sad this will be her last national conference with West BPA, Hudachek is excited about the opportunities to come. 

“I’m really looking forward to being able to utilize my skills in a different way than in teaching. And really, I think the thing I’m looking forward to the most is just the opportunity to learn something new,” Hudachek said.

While making her decision the hardest thing Hudachek had to grapple with was leaving her students; both those in BPA and not. Going to nationals for the fifth and last time reminded Hudachek about the things she loves as a teacher and as a BPA advisor.

“This was one of my favorite BPA nationals trips, it highlighted the things I’m going to miss about being a teacher. That was the fact that everybody was so willing to help each other out. Every time I saw it I kind of got teary eyed because I was thinking about how wonderful an opportunity NLC and BPA is for students and how much I’m going to miss being a part of that,” Hudachek said.

BPA nationals 2025 will be a year to remember, both by students and advisors. It marked the 59th national BPA conference held and its theme “Capture the Moment” encouraged students to take opportunities and celebrate the numerous memories they form through Business Professionals of America.