High School

The Business Professionals of America (BPA) National Leadership Convention was held May 7-11 in Orlando, Fla., where 36 students from around the Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools district attended and competed among the nation’s best. Two individuals and three teams from Eastland-Fairfield placed inside the top 10 in the nation, including one national runner-up finish.

Senior Owen Gilligan (Pickerington Central) from the Programming & Software Development program at Eastland Career Center (ECC) was crowned national runner-up in the Advanced Spreadsheets competition, claiming his place on the podium during the Grand Awards ceremony. His achievement marked the third year in a row that a student from the Programming & Software Development program took a top-3 finish in their respective competition.

Gilligan added to his weekend success by achieving the second-highest certification score for Microsoft 365 Excel Expert. 

For the first time in program history, a student from the Medical Office program at ECC placed top 10 nationally in an individual competition. That honor was earned by Mary Camara, a senior from Reynoldsburg, who placed seventh overall in the Health Administration Procedures competition. 

For the seventh consecutive year, a team from the Programming & Software Development program placed in the top 10 in the Software Engineering Team event. The tandem of Luke Wall (Sr., Groveport Madison), Haben Andemariam (Sr., Reynoldsburg), Chris Bailey (Sr., Teays Valley), and Baslel Etissa (Sr., Reynoldsburg) took ninth place overall to continue the program’s incredible run.

Students from the Multimedia satellite program at Pickerington High School North had a stellar showing by adding two more top-10 finishes to the EFCTS accolade list. The Video Production team, comprised of Pickerington High School North seniors Jack Spear, Cai Watts, Gabe Garcia, and Jacob Hoover, placed sixth overall, marking the third consecutive year the program placed 10th or better in this event.

The User Experience Design team of Lucas Schalmo, Lincoln Purcell, Aidan Montei, and Caden Scarberry locked in a special moment at the national competition, as well. This group of Pickerington North seniors, together, has logged back-to-back top 10 finishes at the national level with their sixth-place finish in this year’s competition.

Of the 36 students who attended and competed at the BPA National Leadership Conference, 26 came from the Interactive Media, Programming & Software Design, or Medical Office programs at ECC, and 11 of those students were juniors who will vie to return next year. The remaining 12 students are enrolled in the Multimedia satellite program. 

Congratulations to all students and staff on their incredible achievements!

BPA National Placements

Advanced Spreadsheets
Owen Gilligan (Sr., Pickerington Central, Programming & Software Development) - 2nd place

Video Production Team - 6th place
Jack Spear (Sr., Pickerington North), Cai Watts (Sr., Pickerington North), Gabe Garcia (Sr., Pickerington North), Jacob Hoover (Sr., Pickerington North)
* all students on this team are part of the Multimedia satellite program at Pickerington North HS

User Experience Design Team - 6th place
Lucas Schalmo (Sr., Pickerington North), Lincoln Purcell (Sr., Pickerington North), Aidan Montei (Sr., Pickerington North), Caden Scarberry (Sr., Pickerington North)
* all students on this team are part of the Multimedia satellite program at Pickerington North HS

Health Administration Procedures
Mary Camara (Sr., Reynoldsburg, Medical Office) - 7th place