By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Danielle Foster should have a busy year ahead of her. The Niles High School junior was recently named to the State Executive Council of the Michigan chapter of the Business Professionals of America (BPA).
As historian, Foster said for the next year she will oversee the state's BPA newsletter called ‘News and Notes.' The position will also require Foster to assign other officers to write articles for the publication and create a scrapbook for 2006, she said.
Foster said she preferred to be historian over president, vice president or treasurer of the executive council.
To earn the position, Foster said she had to fill out an extensive 20 page application with essays asking why she wanted to be a state officer.
Plus, she said the position required letters of recommendation from teachers and principals, as well as a phone interview with the state director of BPA, an interview with the current state executive team and the completion of a test about BPA.
The application is also where candidates indicate the position on the executive council on which they prefer to serve. Foster said the fact that she was named historian, her preferred position, is a hint that she was the first choice of state directors and current executive council members.
Foster said she was awarded the historian position during the 34th annual BPA state competitions March 16-19 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids.
Foster will attend officers training in May at Eastern Michigan University and travel around the state to six BPA conferences during 2006. Foster will also help represent Michigan at the BPA National Leadership Conference May 10 through 14 in Orlando, Fla.
Also representing Niles at the national conference will be junior Justin Duncan, who finished second in the state medical office procedures competition. Duncan said he was tested in medical terminology and forwarding medical transcripts, which he prepared for with old fashioned studying.
A third Niles student was one place away from earning a trip to Orlando. Senior Matt Smith placed third in information technology concepts and sixth place for both computer network technology and PC troubleshooting and repair.
Smith said he will be the first one called to replace either state qualifier in computer networking or troubleshooting if the representatives cannot make the trip to Florida.
As far as how Smith sharpens his computer skills, he said “I do what I normally do. That's stuff I just know, I don't know how,” Smith said.