Farmington Students Earn National Honors in Business Competition

Farmington High senior Indulekha Ghandikota can make a Microsoft Access database sing. 

Her ability to pull together reports from long lists of information earned her a first place finish in Database Applications at the Business Professionals of America (BPA) national Leadership Conference, held in Orlando, FL May 8-12. 

"I thought I'd make it into the top 10," Ghandikota said, "but I didn't think I'd win ... There were a lot of people there who did really well." 

A friend talked her into joining the school's BPA chapter during her sophomore year, and she enjoyed the diversity of the group, along with the competition. "I really like business, and it's a great opportunity for me to learn about business in my own way," she added. 

Ghandikota will attend the University of Michigan. She plans to study engineering, but also hopes to keep a hand in business. 

"I don't know if the University has a BPA chapter," she said. "This was a great experience, so I hope to further it in different ways." 

Also at the national event, Farmington High student Kristina Franchi took 7th place in the Excel competition. Both Farmington students were sponsored by Linda Valice. Harrison High senior Connor Rubin, sponsored by Maggie Youngblood, took first place in the Extemporaneous Speech contest.