MCCC IT student places second at BPA state contest

Business Professionals of America is an organization which provides opportunities for students entering the world of business to compete among their colleagues in various competitions, which test knowledge in each field. Competitions range from knowledge of medical terminology, interview skills, extemporaneous speech, C# programming, and more. The Medina County Career Center was one of the many area schools who attended the BPA State Conference in Columbus from March 10-11. In order to qualify for the state competition, students had to land within the top two places in the Regional Competition at Akron University. Competing students stayed at the Columbus Business Center Hyatt, specifically reserved for the event by BPA. Aidan Ridgeway, a senior in the MCCC Software Development and Web Design IT Academy, competed in SQL Database Fundamentals. Previously, Ridgeway placed highly in both the SQL event and Python event, but decided to pursue SQL because "it felt more comfortable" as one of Ridgeway's possible career avenues is to become a data scientist. SQL is a programming language tailored to creating/modifying databases. Students of SEWD are encouraged to take up an interest in various technologies of their choice, gaining a wide skill set that will make the transition into higher education easier. Much of the class is dedicated to web design concepts such as learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but students in the senior program move onto learning object oriented programming languages and other skills like SQL. As a participant in SQL Database Fundamentals, Ridgeway was tested on his knowledge of SQL concepts through identifying keywords and predicting the output of various SQL statements. Upon leaving the competition, Ridgeway learned he ranked second in the state, which qualified him to compete at the national level in Dallas, Texas. However, Ridgeway is currently undecided as to whether he will compete at the national level due to various AP tests that are scheduled to be taken the same week. For Ridgeway, BPA was not simply about winning, it was about spending time with his classmates, and testing his skills. "Test yourself. It is a great idea to challenge yourself as it will take you to all sorts of different places," Ridgeway said. Matthew Kovach, a senior at the Medina County Career Center, is one of over fifty student "backpack journalists" (grades 6-12) in the award-winning BEAT Video Program. The program is sponsored by Scene75 (www.scene75.com), Plum Creek Assisted Living Community, Baskets Galore, Medina County Women's Endowment Fund, Medina County Community Fund, Brunswick University Center, Brunswick Eagles 3505, 100+ Women Who Care Medina, and the Brunswick Rotary Club. Go to https://www.bcsoh.org/domain/1154 to learn more about the Program, or visit https://thebeat.viebit.com to view videos produced by the students.