Business Professionals of America (BPA) is a nationwide organization that hosts multiple business conferences and events to inspire young minds, create connections and develop life-long skills.
Liberty’s BPA program has competed in multiple conferences at both state and national levels. The club advisors are Mark Langenfeld and Zachary Hammes, both business teachers at Liberty High School.
The club has had participant growth in the past three years. In 2023, when Langenfeld started, there were 14 kids and in years past it fell around that range. However, the program kept growing as the years went on. It doubled in 2024 and this year nearly quadrupled to 52.
Liberty’s BPA program recently competed at their state conference from Feb. 15-17. Along with their members, their success in medaling and national qualifiers has skyrocketed, too. This year, 50 of the 52 students made it on stage as medalists, and 41 automatically qualified for nationals.
“This year blew my expectations away,” Langenfeld said. “By far this has been the best year for students preparing, paying attention to details, coming into practice, asking questions, being interested and wanting to do well.”
Nora McDonald, 9, and Gabbi Swift, 9, were two of the many students to make it to nationals this year and truly enjoyed the experience and the growth that came with it.
“BPA was definitely a great experience overall, just being there in general, but also competing,” McDonald said. “Just this one year of BPA has definitely brought my confidence when presenting up, and by continuing to do it, I will definitely grow and improve in my public speaking and presenting skills.”
Additionally, many students were able to enjoy other activities and experiences in addition to competing. Downtime activities included a hypnotist show, going out to dinner, open tests and spending time with friends.
“BPA was a really fun way to try new experiences and events. I really enjoyed getting to spend it with friends and going out to dinner every night,” Swift said. “The competition was fun because I got to try something I’ve never done before, which was doing a presentation in front of a judge.”
There are a variety of areas to compete in, from the medical field and coding to entrepreneurship and finance. There are also different ways to compete, such as tests, presentations, interviews, presubmitted events and speeches.
“BPA truly is for anybody. You’re all going to have a job in the future, and you’re all going to need to go through an interview process,” Langenfeld said. “One of the great things about business and BPA is that I can relate the content to really any interest.”
Due to the large variety and overall layout of the program, BPA comes with many benefits, skills and networking.
“It’s a great place to sharpen your skills, and it is a fun way to network with other students around Iowa and possibly the nation. It is a good way for students to practice hearing feedback in a judged event, go through an interview process or work with a group on a project,” Langenfeld said.
Langenfeld encourages students to get involved in high school, actively advocating for clubs, including BPA, by taking the time to really go through the club information slides and encouraging students.
“I like to see kids for who they are and get to know their interests. I think clubs are just a great way to get involved in Liberty,” Langenfeld said. “I think it’s so important to get involved and learn more and get to know more people in the school you share interests with. It’s such a big and diverse school that if you have an interest in something, there are going to be other people in the school who have an interest in it too. Don’t be afraid to try something new. Jump in, go for it.”
