St. Louis High School’s Business Professionals of America organization competed at their state event at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids March 14-17. Thirty-one SLHS students attended, and the following members placed in their events: Alexis Beeson, Zoe Dickman, Brook Filipiak, Luke Harry, Noah Harry, Breck Hodges, Allyse March, Joe Nash, Lauren Sherwood, and Elizabeth VanderHart.

“I took first place in Prepared Speech,” Lauren Sherwood said. “When I won, I was in a state of shock. I didn’t think I’d be that good at giving my speech. I knew I’d get on stage, but I had no idea I would take first place.”

Sherwood added, “One of my favorite parts of the weekend was going to Craig’s Cruisers. I went on go karts and bumper cars for the first time. Another fun part was when Breck shoved a whole piece of chicken in his mouth during the banquet!”

The following students will be competing at the national level: Allyse March, Elizabeth VanderHart, Lauren Sherwood, Alexis Beeson, Hailey DeRosia, Aynslee Koutz, Brian Conn, Breck Hodges, and Luke Harry. The BPA national convention will take place May 1-5, in Anaheim, California.

“I was proud of all of our students this weekend, but a special moment was watching Lauren Sherwood be awarded first place in Prepared Speech. She has worked so hard to prepare and perfect her speech, and it was awesome to see it all pay off!” said Mrs. Biehl.