2025 Regional Leadership Conference

The members of Lavina Chapter attend the Region 6 Leadership Conference at Montana State University, Billings on December 16/17, 2024. Members competed against the many other schools in our region. In attendance from Lavina were: Wyatt Thaut, Faustine Anies, Briana Thaut, Emily Mihet, Lillian Jansen, LouAnn Peters, Valentina Sanguins, Ian Hanson, Garrett Contway, Keeley Fauth, Katherine Egge, Cody Wessel, Rachel Mihet, Mikayla Moyers, Ava Mallo, Emalyn Jansen, Tristan Mallo, and Madison Jones. Reese Wallis attended virtually.

The 2025 State Leadership Conference will take place in Billings, MT in March 2025.  

National Leadership Conference

Lavina Students Recognized at the Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference in Chicago

Ava Mallo from Lavina Business Professionals of America (BPA) chapter was among the 6,500 attendees representing nearly 800 school chapters who attended the 2024 BPA National Leadership Conference in Chicago, Illinois, May 10-14, 2024.  LouAnn Peters also qualified, but was unable to attend.

While in Chicago, students vied for top honors in BPA’s Workplace Skill Assessment Program competitions, which cover the areas of business administration; digital communication and design; finance; health administration; information technology; and management, marketing and communication. Conference participants also attended professional development workshops, received awards for community service activities, and elected BPA’s 2024–2025 national student leadership team. Ava competed in Medical Insurance and Billing.

While in Chicago, participants also had opportunities to network with other BPA members and business leaders, visit famous attractions in the region, and participate in several community service activities honoring the Special Olympics, BPA’s national service project.

The 2024 National Leadership Conference was presented by Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, the leading provider of certification exam development, delivery and program management services.

BPA’s 2025 National Leadership Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida from May 7 to 11.

Montana BPA 2024 State Leadership Conference

The 2024 Montana BPA State Leadership Conference was held in Billings on March 10-12, One thousand three hundred and thirty five (1,335) students and local chapter advisors from the middle level and secondary level attended in a spirit of friendship and goodwill.  10 of those members were from the Lavina Chapter. BPA Montana Association assisted the members through participation in the areas of competitive events, leadership, community development, and professionalism.

Students from 101 Montana schools demonstrated their knowledge in business and technological skills and abilities in 93 different competitive events from within the five core assessment areas of Finance, Business Administration, Management Information Systems, Digital Communication & Design, Management, Marketing & Communication, and Health Administration. Four students from Lavina placed in the top ten for their events: Ava Mallo (4^th), Emily Mihet(10^th), Valentina Sanguins (8^th) (Health Insurance and Medical Billing), and LouAnn Peters (5^th in Advanced Desktop Publishing.)

The following Lavina BPA students were recognized as Member Recruiter Recipients 2024 for their efforts in recruiting new members:   Ava Mallo, Valentina Sanguins, LouAnn Peters, Lillian Jansen, and Reese Wallis.

BPA Montana students will now have the opportunity to travel to Chicago, Illinois to compete in the 2024 BPA National Leadership Conference which will be held May 10-14. Lavina students Ava Mallo and LouAnn Peters have qualified to attend. Business Professionals of America is the leading CTSO (Career Technical Student Organization) for students pursuing careers in business management, finance, office administration, information technology, health administration and other related career fields.

Montana BPA 2024 Region 6 Leadership Conference

The 2024 Montana BPA Region 6 Leadership Conference was held in Billings on December 18 and 19 at Montana State University, Billings. Schools from Broadview, Melstone, Roundup and Billings joined us in this academic matchup. In attendance from Lavina were: Ava Mallo, Emily Mihet, Lillie Jansen, Reese Wallis, Katherine Egge, LouAnn Peters, Keeley Fauth, Valentina Sanguins, Mikayla Moyers, Ian Hanson, and Garrett Contway.

These students will compete at the State Leadership Conference in March 2024 in Billings, MT. 

Business Professionals of America is the leading CTSO (Career Technical Student Organization) for students pursuing careers in business management, finance, office administration, information technology, health administration and other related career fields.                           

Lavina BPA is a busy group!

      Here is a quick summary of some of the events we participate in during the year:

• Fundraising (year round)
• Community service projects (year round)
• Fall Leadership Conference at Fairmont Hot Springs (Oct. 1-2, 2023)
• Veterans Day Pancake Dinner (TBD, Annually)
• Regional Conference at MSUB (TBD, Annually)
• State Conference at MSUB (Mar. 10-12, 2024)
• National Conference Chicago, IL (May 10-14, 2024)

____________________________________________________________________________________________

     Business Professionals of America is a co-curricular activity that encourages and celebrates student participation in professional, civic, service and social endeavors. BPA members are constantly striving for self-improvement, and development of leadership/career abilities. Our members learn real world business skills and demonstrate these skills in more than 90 competitive events during our regional, state and national conferences. The overall mission of BPA is to “contribute to the preparation of global professionals through the advancement of leadership, citizenship, academic, and technical skills." For more information, contact: Raquel Sanguins, Advisor.  Email

Do you want to know more about BPA? Go to the BPA Website.