FFA’s state convention was held in Bozeman, April 1-5. Park placed 16th overall as a team. Junior Violet Browning took 17th individually in sales out of the 500 some individuals participating. Senior Koyle Malone entered a 1979 F250 as a restoration project in the junior ag mechanics show, which he said he spent a lot of time and money building. Students also built a custom fixture table and cold cut miter saw table. Park FFA’s chapter advisor Brent Beley said he is hopeful about the future of Park FFA and that right now he is trying to get everything into an “even flow,” familiarizing members with their events and preparing for next year.
HOSA: “Future Health Professionals” had a strong showing at this year’s state competition in Billings April 1 and 2 . The relatively new club focuses on everything from emergency medicine, nursing, veterinary science, and anything related to healthcare.The chapter advisor Janine Ensign stated that they had to apply for a new chapter to be introduced, and after receiving their new chapter number, the club became affiliated on February 7, almost six months after most other chapters had already started the year. Ensign remarked that “To say we hit the ground running is an understatement.”
The club is fundraising to send several students including Megan Ruebusch, Alissa Ruebusch, Quinci Wood, Analeece Frederickson,Camile Poncin and possibly Lily Minnick, plus an advisor to the national competition which will be held June 18-21 in Nashville, TN. Landess O’Dea also qualified with the team’s first place win for community awareness but will not be competing at nationals, Ensign said.
BPA: Park BPA attended the state convention on March 9-11 in Billings and had three members qualify for nationals. The convention events consist of different areas from finance and information technology to health and human services. Juniors Anna Lende and Naomi Maurer both placed in the top five of their respective events, which landed them a ticket to the National Convention in May in Orlando, FL. Freshman Ellie Slater also did well at the state convention, placing top ten in her event. Maurer qualified in Digital Media Production and Anna Lende qualified in Advanced Desktop Publishing, as well as Economic Research Individual. Ben Vermillion also qualified in Advanced Desktop Publishing but chose not to attend nationals. Right now, BPA is fundraising to send these two students to Orlando by continuing sales in their coffee shop and putting on Mr. PHS.
TSA: TSA or Technology Student Association had a good showing at the state convention that was held in Bozeman April 7-8. Similar to FFA and BPA, at the state convention the Park chapter won at least nine events which placed them in the top three. Although there is a national convention, Park TSA chapter advisor Hunter James said that with the low numbers in the TSA program it is hard to get a team ready for the weeklong national convention. However, James has mentioned that the state might be sending a team of delegates to observe the convention which will be held next year in Nashville, TN.