On April 24, Peabody-Burns Business Professionals of America who qualified for national competition traveled by train to Chicago, Ill., for the BPA National Leadership Conference.

PBHS students who qualified were Amy Wedel, Matt Hiebert, Sarah Hofkamp, Brody Kyle, Jamie Henry, Zachary Preheim, McKenzie Ensminger, Xavier Jabary, and Nick Preheim. The group sponsor is Patty Savage.

“We were pleased by the number of kids who qualified,” Savage said. “And we were all excited for Zachary Preheim, who placed in the top 10 of his event and got to take the stage with the others who placed.”

He placed ninth of 61 students in Database Applications; Hiebert placed 22nd of 66 students in Banking and Finance; Hofkamp placed 21st of 464 students in Business Meeting Management and 13th of 50 in Prepared Speech; Henry placed 17th of 431 students in Financial Math and Analysis and 19th of 68 in Fundamental Accounting; Kyle placed 11th of 55 students in Legal Office Procedures; and Zach Preheim and McKenzie Ensminger placed 13th of 30 teams in Web Site Design Team. Seniors Matt Hiebert and Amy Wedel were each recipients of Ambassador Torch Awards.

While in Chicago, the students took advantage of many tourist attractions such as Shedd Acquarium, Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, the John Hancock Observatory, The Bean, and the Field Museum. They also participated in a Special Olympics Walk to the Navy Pier.