Niles High School’s chapter of Business Professionals of America (BPA) brought home 14 medals and qualified 10 of its members for the state BPA conference during a regional competition Tuesday at Lake Michigan College.

The regional event featured nearly 400 students from nine area schools.

“Our students did an outstanding job competing against such a large number of students in our region,” said Alyse Hoyt, Niles BPA adviser. “Niles can be very proud of the students who will be representing them at the state competition.”

One of those students is junior Dylan McAllister, who is in his first year on Niles’ BPA team.

McAllister finished first, second and third in three competitions related to information technology. The top four finishers in each event advanced to the state level.

“I am looking forward to meeting new people and making new connections,” he said. “It will be nice to get out of my element and my area and see what the greater area has to offer.”

Niles BPA Captains Riley Delinski and Derek Brown will both be making their second consecutive trips to the state conference, which will be held in Grand Rapids in March.

Delinski, a senior, took second place in economic research, which required him to write an essay about the impact of an ageing population on the economy and present his findings to a panel of judges.

“It’s a very professional business atmosphere — it helps you prepare for the real world,” said Delinski.

Hoyt, who has been the Niles chapter’s BPA adviser for three years, said the program has seen a growth in membership in each of the past three years.

With 14 medals and 10 members advancing to state, this was the program’s best regional finish in that time span.

“I am very proud of them — they all worked hard,” she said.

Business Professionals of America is a national career and technical student organization consisting of 25 state associations and more than 50,000 members from over 2,700 chapters.

Michigan is divided into 10 regions and has approximately 4,600 members in around 170 chapters.

The co-curricular activity is part of an education program designed to develop leadership abilities, competency in business occupations and interest in the American business system.