AMANDA ARNOLD
Ivy Tech is at it again.
The Sellersburg campus brought home yet more national awards recently when students from the school’s chapter of the Business Professionals of America received recognition at the National Leadership Conference in Dallas last month.
Business Professionals of America is a student-operated organization for secondary and post-secondary institutions throughout the country.
“It consists of students who are looking to improve their skill sets in any amount imaginable,” said Kenyatte Simuel, director of computer and technology services, and advisor for the Sellersburg chapter of BPA.
Such skills include business presentation, business administration, finances and interview skills.
“I think the biggest advantage to the students winning (BPA award) is that it validates the type of student that Ivy Tech is producing to be able to compete against anyone in the country,” Simuel said.
Borden resident Angela Penn did especially well improving her interview skills, and in fact she won second place in advanced interview skills.
Getting recognized in Dallas was a big deal for Penn, 30, because she received her award in the presence of peers from across the country, including larger four-year institutions.
“When they called me for second place I was kind of bummed because I wanted first,” Penn said. “But I got to step forward, and it didn’t matter if it was first, second or third because I got to step forward and take home a plaque.”
Returning to school 10 years after graduation was its own challenge for Penn, especially with a full-time job and two children. During her first semester at Ivy Tech in 2006, she thought joining BPA would be too difficult with her schedule, but during her second semester her accounting instructor, Rebekah Lynch, strongly suggested BPA and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“It (winning the award) means a lot. I’m not the first one in my family to go to school, but I was the first to be in anything like this in college,” said Penn, who also spoke at the 2009 graduation ceremony at Ivy Tech.
Scottsburg resident Sheila Rains-Pecord also felt accomplished when she won second place in presentation skills management.
“I felt winning this award brought home the fact that I can do it, and it was emotional to think I can do something that in the past I thought I couldn’t,” said Rains-Pecord, 59. She added that the encouragement from Lynch and other faculty at Ivy Tech was strong motivation.
Ivy Tech Award Winners
• Katarina Lynch of Floyds Knobs won first place in individual presentation management.
• David White of Louisville won first place in entrepreneurship.
• Angela Penn of Borden won second place in advanced interview skills.
• Misty Alexander of Salem, Shelia Rains-Pecord of Scottsburg and Heather Van Kampen of Clarksville won second place in presentation skills management.
