The 2008 State Leadership Conference is now over. While we’re packing up in Grand Rapids, we wanted to let you know of a couple important links you should check out. First, photos from the weekend are available on our Web site at www.michiganbpa.org/slc. Also, the list of all winners from the Workplace Skills Assessment Program is now available here.

See you next year!

Just to let everyone know, a full list of the Workplace Skills Assessment Program winners, which are going to be announced tomorrow morning at the Awards Session, will be available on our Web site at www.michiganbpa.org/slc immediately following that session.

We’ll also be posting tomorrow’s daily photo update at that time, likely between 12:00 noon - 1 p.m., since  that is the final event for the conference.

We’re at DeVos Place getting set for tonight’s Dinner Session, a formal event where, among other things, the new State Executive Council will be installed for the coming year. Things are coming together nicely, and it’s sure to be a great session! Doors open at 6:15, and it’s important for students to note that if they leave the ballroom for any reason during the session, they must have their conference name badge and wristband in order to come back into the room. For security purposes, no person will be allowed in the room without proper credentials at any time.

If you were wondering, tonight’s menu includes chicken cordon bleu, and a delicious grilled tofu dish for our vegetarian friends!

It’s Saturday morning, March 15, and here is all the information you need for today:

Today’s highlights on the schedule include the Open Competitive Events, as well as Saturday judged events and finals for many competitions. We’ve got 6 more Legacy Launcher workshops in store today on a broad range of topics sure to be of interest to student leaders. This afternoon, the Meet the Candidates Campaign Rally will give chapter Voting Delegates and other members the chance to meet and interact with the students running for State Officer positions. Later this evening is the Dinner Session, a formal session where, among other things, the 2008-2009 State Executive Council will be installed. This is a really fun event, and we’re excited to tell you more about it later today.

Good luck to all students competing today, as well as all the State Executive Council candidates!

The Opening Session has just been adjourned, and the events of the 2008 SLC are over for the night. We’ll be back tomorrow morning to give you a run-down of what Saturday has in store.

Don’t forget that you can see photos from all of today’s events exclusively at www.michiganbpa.org/slc! Photos from today will be posted later this evening, and each day’s photos will be available on that site at the end of the day. Our conference photographer has been hard at work capturing the excitement of all of today’s events, and we hope you enjoy being able to see what’s going on at the SLC each day!

Congratulations to all the Statesman Torch Award winners, who have just been announced! This is a VERY prestigious award, and students had to put in countless hours of community service, leadership development, and school activity work to be recognized. Students winning the Statesman award receive a certificate and lapel pin and recognition on stage during the Opening Session for receiving this honor. The 2008 Statesman Torch Award Winners are:

Keriann Alexis Ford	Adams HS
Matthew Boyd	Adams HS
Melissa Megerian	Adams HS
Amy Li	Ann Arbor Huron HS
Jacob Kim	Ann Arbor Huron HS
Leeda Wang	Ann Arbor Huron HS
Sean Ji	Ann Arbor Huron HS
Renee Crane	Capac HS
Miguel Garcia	Cass Tech HS
Blair Williams	Clare HS
Jenae Finney	Clare HS
Megan Clute	Clare HS
Megan Lickman	Clare HS
Myung Sook Walton	Clare HS
Sarah Sargent	Clare HS
Wrae Bacon	Clare HS
Derrian Douglas	Detroit Northwestern HS
Daniel Tratt	DeWitt HS
Greg Beaton	DeWitt HS
Kiley Kyser	DeWitt HS
Olga Romantsova	DeWitt HS
Troy Burnie	DeWitt HS
D’Ante T. Chambers	Flint Central HS
Gina Nichols	Flint Central HS
Noelle Marshall	Flint Central HS
Tiara Newton	Flint Central HS
Tyeisha Cox	Flint Central HS
Tymesha Pittman	Flint Southwestern Academy
Anthony Coles	Fruitport HS
Hannah Bartels	Fruitport HS
Angela Bright	GASC Technology Center
Anthony Owens	GASC Technology Center
Ashley Calloway	GASC Technology Center
Daniel Wisenbaugh	GASC Technology Center
George Joubran	GASC Technology Center
Jeff Horning	GASC Technology Center
MarQuis Ragland	GASC Technology Center
Nidal Ishaq	GASC Technology Center
Robert Dent	GASC Technology Center
Roslynn Lane	GASC Technology Center
Sean Gale	GASC Technology Center
Shelby Brooks	GASC Technology Center
Stephanie Ollie	GASC Technology Center
Sydney White	GASC Technology Center
Teeanna Maria Evans	GASC Technology Center
Timothy Allen Heller	GASC Technology Center
Andrea Jones	Grand Blanc HS
Gordon Lawcock	Grand Blanc HS
Katy Fluke	Hastings HS
Amanda Briggs	Lakewood HS
Jared Secor	Lakewood HS
Markus Gonzales	Lakewood HS
Matthew Risk	Lakewood HS
Zack Woodman	Lakewood HS
David Watta	Marine City HS
Benjamin Putt	Midland HS
Christina Andersen	Midland HS
Jessica Weyburne	Midland HS
Jonathan Plotzke	Midland HS
Justin Zablocki	Midland HS
Kevin Roach	Midland HS
Victoria Pendred	Midland HS
Brent Money	Mio AuSable HS
Kayla Harris	Mio AuSable HS
Nicholas Gravlin	Mount Clemens HS
Amy Thompson	Mt. Pleasant Area Tech Center
Christian Roehmer	Mt. Pleasant Area Tech Center
Heather Burch	Mt. Pleasant Area Tech Center
Kyle Quinn	Mt. Pleasant Area Tech Center
Lauren Fabian	Mt. Pleasant Area Tech Center
Jeannie Wilson	Randolph CTC
Lauren Roberts	Saline HS
Stacey Bauer	Saline HS
Jonathan Smith	Sault Area Career Center
Abby Jones	Shepherd HS
Alexa Snyder	Shepherd HS
Anne Coughlin	Shepherd HS
Christine Robinson	Shepherd HS
Corbin Martinez	Shepherd HS
Emily Bryant	Shepherd HS
Jason Gill	Shepherd HS
Jenn Lilly	Shepherd HS
Jessica Warner	Shepherd HS
Kortney Casper	Shepherd HS
Liesl Schmidt	Shepherd HS
Melissa Ellis	Shepherd HS
Rebecca Wiles	Shepherd HS
Sami Gross	Shepherd HS
Stephanie Snyder	Shepherd HS
Theresa Doty	Shepherd HS
Timothy Blaxton	Shepherd HS
Yancy Cobb	Southfield HS
Emily Beeler	St. Clair TEC
Jessica Willis	St. Clair TEC
Louis Lamb	St. Clair TEC
Trisha Kure	St. Clair TEC
Kimberly Stowe	St. Johns HS
Lasey Siel	St. Johns HS
Adam Furore	St. Mary HS
Erin Stillin	St. Mary HS
Sarah Schaub	St. Mary HS
Susan Herman	St. Mary HS
Christina Santi	Stoney Creek HS
Alexa Kauffman	Sturgis HS
Analyse Seely	Sturgis HS
Audrey Mifsud	Sturgis HS
Breann Maystead	Sturgis HS
Carter Brown	Sturgis HS
Jason Russell	Sturgis HS
Kaitlynn Schultz	Sturgis HS
Kayla Doe	Sturgis HS
Samantha Carr	Sturgis HS
Samantha Sanford	Sturgis HS
Shelby Westra	Sturgis HS
Steven Davidson	Sturgis HS
Randi Olson	Woodhaven-Brownstown/DCTC

Congratulations to all Statesman Torch Award Winners on a job well done!

Congratulations to the Detroit Northwestern High School chapter, just announced as the 2008 Michigan BPA Chapter of the Year!

State President Kiley Kyser from DeWitt High School has just officially opened the 2008 State Leadership Conference! This Opening Session is a highlight of the SLC experience. The Parade of Presidents, special recognition awards, Statesman Torch Awards, and State Executive Council Candidate Speeches are the main events during this enthusiastic session. This is the first time that all 2,000+ delegates of the conference are together, and it’s exciting to see everyone! We’ll post more about this session as it continues for the next 90 minutes.

The organizational business of the conference is transacted each year at the Annual Business Meeting, which is happening right now. At this meeting, Voting Delegates (two members per chapter, selected by the chapter to vote as representatives of the school) are deciding on a number of revisions to the Michigan BPA Bylaws, and they’re also hearing briefly from each of the SEC candidates, who are each answering a brief impromptu question on stage as part of their election procedure.

After this session concludes at 7:00, the Opening Session and Parade of Presidents officially kicks off the SLC with a bang!

We’re at DeVos Place, Grand Rapids’s premier convention center getting ready for tonight’s Annual Business Meeting and Opening Session!

While we get set for everyone to come for tonight’s events, we thought you might like to take a look at photos from yesterday’s conference events. Don’t forget you can visit our Web site at www.michiganbpa.org/slc each night for daily photo updates, a new feature where we post all the photos our conference photographer took that day so parents and friends back home can see what the SLC experience is all about and keep up on what’s going on!