Northwest's Pi Omega Pi chapter was named best in the country for the third time in four years. Pictured left to right are members Melissa Potter, Bailey Maxwell, Trey Kothe, Eddy Kraber and Abbey Kriz, and co-advisor Cari Cline. (Submitted photo)

April 11, 2018

Business ed honor society earns third national title in four years

The Beta Chapter of Pi Omega Pi at Northwest Missouri State University is the best in the country for the third time in four years, according to results of the 2017 national chapter competition.

Pi Omega Pi is a national business education honor society, and results of its national competition were announced at the National Business Education Association Convention, March 27-31 in Baltimore. The competition results are based on chapter involvement in the national organization and local chapter activities throughout the 2017 calendar year.

“We are so excited to be recognized for three of the past four years and we are shooting for three consecutive years,” Abbey Kriz, a Beta Chapter member who is pursuing her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, said. “We were presenting and teaching against much larger schools with many more members and that seemed intimidating. The quality and enthusiasm of our work allowed the Beta Chapter to shine.”

The Beta Chapter’s community service projects last year included assisting with the District I Future Business Leaders of America  Conference at Northwest campus, attending Pi Omega Pi’s biennial convention in Chicago where five members presented sessions, and contributing articles to the organization’s national newsletter as well as completing profession-based experiences with area schools, business teachers and students. Additionally, Beta Chapter member Marina Hayner received the national Pi Omega Pi scholarship last fall.

Northwest’s Beta Chapter, in its 94th year, is the oldest active Pi Omega Pi chapter in the nation. The organization is designed to create a fellowship among teachers of business subjects, create and encourage interest and promote scholarship in business education, encourage civic responsibility, foster high ethical standards in business and professional life among teachers of business, and teach the ideal of service as the basis of all worthy enterprise.

Northwest students holding a membership in the honor society are Trey Kothe, Eddy Kraber, Abbey Kriz, Bailey Maxwell, Melissa Potter, Allie Stanley and Kassidy Stark. Dr. Nancy Zeliff and Cari Cline, faculty members in Northwest’s School of Computer Science and Information Systems, co-sponsor the organization.

Zeliff has served as a faculty sponsor of the Beta Chapter since 1989. In that time, it has earned 17 top-three finishes in the national competition, including six first-place finishes.

Kriz said her membership in the chapter has provided multiple opportunities to hone her skills as an educator and network with others in the field.

“I also had the chance to discuss with secondary teachers the importance of getting our elementary students involved and excited about computer programming,” she said, adding she taught a six-week summer course on about computer coding. “We know that technology is not going to change, so Pi Omega Pi has allowed me to embrace these changes and be a part of the forefront helping educate our future leaders.”

The top honor is the 15th national championship a Northwest academic or athletic team has earned since December 2016, when the Bearcat football team won its sixth national championship in program history. Since then the Bearcat basketball team and the Bearcat Steppers dance team have each won a national championship, and the University’s forensics team and business honor society have earned multiple national titles. Northwest has won more than 40 national titles in academics and athletics since 2009.

For more information about Pi Omega Pi, visit its national website at www.piomegapi.org.