Mariner Middle business students medal in state event
Mariner Middle School business students shined in state competition Feb. 22-26, netting a host of awards and 12 invitations to the virtual national event.
Team advisor Daniel Shockley said Mariner Business Professionals of America students earned two first-place finishes, and 11 students qualified for the national conference in the club’s third year of competing. One student, Maggie Minto, qualified in two events, earning two invitations, Shockley said.
Finding new club members who worked well as a team was a struggle during the pandemic, with some students attending school in person and others remote, Shockley said.
“Despite everything put in front of them since last March, our Mariner BPA students stayed committed,” Shockley said. “They spent countless hours practicing, preparing presentations, creating designs, drafting speeches, taping, retaping and meeting on Zoom. In the end, their hard work paid off.”
The state event was held virtually and spread out over several days so students could compete, network and attend workshops outside of the regular school day, Shockley said. Some students submitted projects in advance, while others performed in front of a judge in a live, timed competition via Zoom.
Alexa Valentin-Pegueros and Maggie Minto, who earned first place and third place in graphic design, respectively, will represent Delaware in the national competition. Their designs, if chosen at nationals, will become the official national branding.
Mariner BPA President Carly Favoroso earned the Diplomat Torch Service Award and first place in extemporaneous speech, and Regan Best, Rylie Cathcart, Bridgett Cole and Audrey Hershelman won second place in the administrative support team.
This is the third consecutive year a Mariner admin support team will compete at nationals, Shockley said; Mariner’s teams have placed first, second or both in state competition each year. This is also the third year a first-time Mariner BPA admin support team made nationals, he said.
By finishing in third place for keyboard production, Ava Calciano is the first Mariner BPA student to place and return to finals back-to-back in the same event, Shockley said.
“We have had teams accomplish this, but not a lone student,” Shockley said. “We have had individual students qualify back-to-back, but never in the same highly contested event.”
Team members Maggie Minto, Adria Windish and Ellianna Windsor earned third place in introduction to video production. Students said they learned how to use Photoshop in one week and created the video on iMovie.
“The video was phenomenal and totally done by them – their script, their storyboard – all on their own,” Shockley said. “We have fantastic students at Mariner, and this showed they can step up during a pandemic.”
The national competition will take place April 26-May 9. The nice thing about a virtual competition, Shockley said, is that students don’t have to raise up to $2,000 to attend in person, so more individuals are able to compete.
