Texas Border Business
Pharr, Texas – Kirk Miller a senior at PSJA T. Jefferson T-STEM Early College High School was named National Champion in Visual Basic/C# Programming after earning 1st place at the Business Professionals of America (BPA) National Leadership Conference in Dallas held May 9-13.
With 45,000 members, Business Professionals of America is the premier Career and Technical Student Organization for students pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology and other related career fields. The PSJA T. Jefferson T-STEM BPA Club is sponsored by CTE Capstone Project Teacher Yvonne Chamblin.
“Kirk’s involvement with BPA began three years ago as a sophomore and now he is a National Champion!” said Chamblin. “His hard work and determination are excellent examples for students to follow. We’re so proud of Kirk for practicing leadership, professionalism and leaving a BPA legacy at our school.”
According to Miller, he is grateful for the caliber of education and opportunities he has received while at PSJA as they prepared him for the rigorous competition.
Besides being an active member of his school’s BPA team, Miller is a member of the PSJA ISD Student Ambassadors and completed a rigorous internship with PSJA Management Information Systems (MIS) Department during the summer of 2017.
For the senior, the experience he gained at the PSJA MIS Dept. gave him an edge at the national competition.
“The internship gave me a lot of experience with hardware and user interfaces,” said Miller who graduated with an Associate Degree in Computer Science from South Texas College last Friday. “PSJA provided lots of opportunities that exposed me to numerous areas like cybersecurity and networking software that allowed me to become more well-rounded.”
Having been named National Champion just two weeks before his high school graduation, the senior expressed his gratitude toward those who have helped him during his educational journey.
“It feels surreal,” said Miller. “Thank you to my BPA teammates, teachers, parents and PSJA ISD for all their support and encouragement along the way.”
Congratulations Kirk!
