NCK Tech students earn honors at leadership conference

Students from the North Central Kansas Technical College’s information technology and business management departments recently competed in the State Leadership Conference for Business Professionals of America this month in Wichita.

Front row (l to r): Jeremy Guillot, John Haist, Stephanie Raymer, Natasha Cole, Micheal Aspedon, Amanda Noah, Drew Pfannenstiel, David Knappert, Brian Johnson. Back row (l to r): Devin O’Bryan, Cris Hayes, Tessa Hayse, Michael Gledhill, Andrew Shipley, Aaron Turner, Gregory Koelzer

The departments brought home 14 first-, nine second-, four third- and two fourth-place awards. The award-winning students are now eligible to compete at the National Leadership Conference in Indianapolis from April 30 to May 4.

Business Professionals of America helps prepare students for careers in business, computer, and office occupations. Technical Colleges, Community Colleges, and Vocational Schools participate in the post-secondary organization. During the Leadership Conference, competitive events are held in several areas, including financial, administrative, information technology, management, marketing, and human resources. The events require a student to solve business problems in an allotted amount of time and present their solutions to judges from their respective fields or sit for an exam which covers the area of interest.

The NCK Tech Business Management program is designed to prepare students for employment in a variety of management and entrepreneurial careers. The basics of marketing and management are studied both in the classroom and through an internship which includes employment within the field of study. Students earn a certificate upon completion of the one year program. The Information Technology Program provides training in network administration, web page design, PC Maintenance, intranet and Internet operations, desktop publishing using Adobe and Microsoft Applications, video production, and programming using Visual Basic and C# (XNA Game Console, Phone App Programming). Students have the option of an Information Technology Certificate or an Associate of Applied Science Degree after successfully completing the program of instruction. Dean Franzen is the Business Management instructor; Robert McCreight and Krystal Link are instructors in the Information Technology Department.

Click on the image for a list of winners and awards.