Lorain County JVS students in the business academy, recently competed in the virtual Business Professionals of America (BPA) State competition, with three students advancing to the national level.

Cheyenne Cartwright, senior in the marketing and entrepreneurship program, competed in the advanced interview skills event and will head to the national competition this summer.

“The competition this year was more difficult than last year,” said Cartwright. “Since everything was virtual, it was hard to show your true self and all of your portfolio accomplishments, but I achieved further goals than I did last year, and I’m really proud of that.”

Jennifer Pebworth, marketing and entrepreneurship instructor, shared that even with all the changes and challenges surrounding this year’s judged competitions, she was proud to have students who wanted to participate and even more proud of their achievements.

“This year’s virtual state competition wasn’t what the students had wished for,” Pebworth said, “but they proved their resilience by doing their best.”

When Cartwright thinks about the next level of competition, she can’t hold back her excitement. “It is a huge honor! The event will be virtual, which is kind of sad, but I understand it too. The most important thing, is the three of us that are competing, are doing it together.”

Students that are advancing to nationals, and those that placed in the top 10, are listed below by associate school district.

 Amherst

Woody Decker, web and graphic design senior, placed ninth in the advanced desktop publishing event and is advancing to nationals

Clearview

Damian Garcia and Dawson Fries, web and graphic design juniors, placed seventh in the podcast team event

Columbia

Evin Elliott and Elijah Rosas, web and graphic design seniors, placed eighth in the website design team event

Elyria

Chase Lee, web and graphic design junior, placed seventh in the podcast team event

Firelands

Eduardo Diaz, cybersecurity and networking senior, placed first in the computer security event and is advancing to nationals

North Ridgeville

Zackary Hart, web and graphic design junior, placed seventh in the podcast team…