For Members

WHY BPA?

Gain real life skills
Qualify for scholarships
Make connections to the business world
Hold an office
Participate in democratic elections
Earn awards and recognition
Opportunity to participate in skills competition
Become active in community service
Meet people with similar interests
Participate in conferences and workshops on regional,
state, and
national levels
Experience leadership development and team
building techniques
Experience personal and professional growth
Lifetime opportunities

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Business Professionals of America Texas Association
State Scholarship Information

One student from each of the fifteen regions in Texas will be awarded a $500.00 scholarship based on the following guidelines. If a region does not have any entries, then that scholarship will be given to another region. All fifteen scholarships will be awarded.

Winners are selected in each Region based on the highest score. The applicant with the highest score of all the entries will receive the “Mildred Woerndel Scholarship” worth $2,000.00.

Eligibility:

Applicants must currently be a paid state and national member of BPA

Applicants must be a graduating senior planning to continue his/her education

Applicants must have participated in BPA Competition

Applicants must be nominated by their chapter advisor

Application

Email all of the following as attachments.

All items should be saved as PDF files.

Incomplete packets will not be accepted.

Packets received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Completed and typed application form (actual signatures required)

Include a Resume with the following:

Educational Career Objectives

Education

Work Experience

BPA Activities (including competitions)

Community Service

Honors and Awards

Unofficial Transcript (must include 1st semester of senior year)

Recommendation letter by Chapter Advisor (actual signature required)

Answer the following essay in 100 words or less.

2010 Topic: How has Business Professionals of America made a difference in your life?

Download a free pdf writer at http://www.cutepdf.com

Notification:
The Scholarship recipients will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at the State Leadership Conference each year. A certificate will be issued at this time in lieu of the actual check.

Receipt of Scholarship:
Recipients must follow the directions below to receive the scholarship:

Scholarship required documentation must be post-marked by October 1, 2010 to receive scholarship.

Provide an official registration from the post-secondary school. The receipt must provide recipients complete name, address, and social security number.

An on-line generated registration confirmation printout will not be allowed.

A check will be issued and sent via certified mail by the treasurer when all requirements are met.

Selection Process:
All scholarship packets are reviewed by the State Board of Directors Scholarship Committee prior to the regularly scheduled Board of Directors meeting at the State Leadership Conference – personal appearance is not required by the student.

Send all completed application items and questions to:

scholarships@texasbpa.com

TEXAS INTERN PROGRAM

Texas Intern Opportunity

Selection into the Intern program will enable students to assist with the State Leadership Conference in areas ranging from working in headquarters, setting up and directing registration, checking rooms and reservations, working with the officer teams or working with coordinating the judges and proctors. This program will provide Interns with experience in public relations, meeting planning, leadership, and team building.
The application process is as follows:

Interested students will download and complete the Intern Application. Advisors may also submit information about Interns as a chapter.
Completed applications should be attached in an email to Diana Weber, interns@texasbpa.com by Feb. 14h, 2010.
Applications will be reviewed by the Intern Coordinator and the Local Advisor will be contacted via email to approve the student as an Intern.
Once approved, an acceptance letter will be emailed to the Intern and the Advisor
Advisors are responsible for registering the selected Intern as a conference participant

The areas for the Interns are as follows:

Intern Desk—Students will be responsible for checking in the Interns, assigning Interns, answering questions, serving as the information desk, serving as the point of contact for staff needing assistance.
Registration—Students will be in charge of stuffing packets, counting out the conference souvenirs, sorting registration materials and correcting name badges.
Courtesy Corp—Students will be responsible for assisting as needed by being visible and running errands, moving materials, providing information, monitoring sessions and assisting staff.
Headquarters—Students will be responsible for assisting conference staff in setup and take down and assisting as needed in headquarters as runners. Students will not handle testing materials.
Photo Station—Students at the conference will have the opportunity to share their conference pictures to be included in the Conference In-Review slide show to be shown prior to the Closing Session on Saturday. Interns at this station will be assisting with the download of photos, selecting, editing and resizing photos for use in the show. Experience with photo downloads is preferred. Students will also assist with taking pictures of the conference activities.
Multimedia Team—Students will be building the Conference In-Review slide show for the closing session. Students will be taking the downloaded photos from students’ cameras, reformatting, resizing, and fixing the graphics and importing them into a slide show presentation. Experience with graphics and slide shows is preferred.
Proctor Assistants—Students will be responsible for checking room setups, checking on proctors and judges and accommodating their needs. This is a great public relations opportunity.
General Events—Students will be working with the Open Events. Students will assist with the testing setup, posting start and end times, and stamping Test Cards. Students will not handle testing materials.

Assignments will be made when students arrive at the conference and check in at the Intern Headquarters, located in the Convention Center Room 105. There will be a check-in table available at the registration area on Wednesday evening if students would like to select their assignments at that time. Intern Orientation will be Thursday, March 4th, immediately following the Opening Session (around 11:30 a.m.). Interns that are not able to attend the Orientation will receive instructions at Intern Headquarters. Interns can check in at Intern Headquarters at any time during the conference to sign up to assist as needed. A minimum of 3 hours of service is requested to complete the Intern program. Interns will be responsible for representing the organization and providing assistance to the conference staff and the members and guests at the conference. Professional dress is required when Interns are working the conference. Interns will also be responsible for having their own copy of the conference program and being familiar with the conference hotels and layout as they may be asked locations and times for events. Interns will track their service hours. After the close of the conference, a copy of their service hours may be requested and will be sent to the Intern and their Advisor.
Thank you for your interest in the State Intern Program.

Click for more information and downloadable forms.

Competitive Events

The Workplace SkillsAssessment Program (WSAP) is an integral part of Business Professionals of America. The goal of the program is to provide all business students with the opportunity to demonstrate workplace skills learned through business education curricula. A member may enter one individual and/or one team event in the Secondary andAssociate divisions; in two events (only one of which may be a team event) in the Middle Level division; and three events (only one of which may be a team event) in the Post-secondary division. Events are offered at the regional, state, and national level in the following categories:

Financial Services
Administrative Support
Information Technology
Management/Marketing/Human Resources

The WSAP Guide contains the guidelines for each event. You begin competing at the regional level in Texas. State qualifiers advance to the State Leadership Conference (SLC) in March. At the SLC, those placing as national qualifiers advance to the National Leadership Conference (NLC), held in late April or early May.

Click to download the WSAP Guide.

Special Recognition Awards

An active BPA chapter is an involved chapter. There are many Special Recognition Awards designed to provide individual and/or chapter recognition. Recognition is awarded at the Regional, State and National Leadership Conferences. These awards include the following:

WeSeed Social Circle Challenge: BPA members will have the chance to win $1000 scholarships, national recognition, and netbook computers by creating the biggest social networks dedicated to learning about investing through WeSeed.
Environmental Action and Awareness Award: awarded to chapters for raising awareness of and doing something about environmental issues.
Community Relief Service Award: to encourage BPA chapters to provide volunteer services, to assist with disaster services, to provide health and safety community education, to participate in blood drives, and/or to raise and donate monetary support for relief organizations.
BPA Marketing and Public Relations: awarded to chapters for recruitment, promotion, and public relations activities
Chapter Activities Award of Excellence: awarded to chapters for outstanding annual program of activities
Community Action: awarded to chapters for community/school service activities
Entrepreneurship Exploration: awarded to individual student members for outreach and research into local community free enterprise
Member Recruiter: awarded to individual members for recruiting five or more new chapter members during a school year
Merit Scholar: awarded to individual members for possessing exemplary Knowledge of Business Professionals of America
National Center Capital Improvements Campaign: Awarded to chapters, individual members, and state associations for monetary contributions for the capital improvement of the BPA National Center
Safety Awareness (including Drug Awareness/Anti-Violence Awareness): awarded to chapters for safety education activities
Special Olympics (Business Professionals of America’s national service project): awarded to chapters for volunteer service or fund-raising for Special Olympics
Environmental Action Award: to promote the image of Business Professionals of America (BPA) as an organization that is aware of current environmental issues; to motivate all levels and divisions of BPA to participate in activities that prevent any further damage to our environment; and to encourage current chapters to implement plans of action to embrace the idea of a "Green" business.

The Professional Cup is awarded each year to one State Association in each division that has the highest weighted percentage of chapters involved in the Special Recognition Awards program.

Click here for more information on the Special Recognition Awards.

Torch Awards – a special program offering individual recognition awards to members who participate in a wide variety of personal growth and service activities. There are seven (7) activity areas in the Torch awards program:

Leadership

Service

Cooperation

Knowledge

Friendship

Love, Hope, Faith

Patriotism

A very special ceremony surrounds an explanation of the nine “torches”. (In the Torch ceremony, Love, Hope and Faith are considered separate “torches”, giving a total of nine torches in the seven activity areas). Members strive to achieve recognition at each of the following four levels by earning specified points in each of the seven divisions:

Executive Award – given by the local chapters when a member earns 10 points in each of the seven divisions.
Diplomat Award – given by the regional organization when a member earns 30 points in each of the seven divisions.
Statesman Award – given by the state association when a member earns 50 points in each of the seven divisions.
Ambassador Award – given by the national association when a member earns 70 points in each of the seven divisions.

Click here for more information on the Torch Awards program.