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Cowley VICA studentelected presidentof national groupPeople who know Austin Graves aren't that surprised that the Cowley studentwas elected president of the national post-secondary division of VocationalIndustrial Clubs of America for 1997-98.Still, that doesn't diminish the accomplishment.Graves, the son of Russell Graves and Denise and Ron Aupperle, all ofArkansas City, was elected president of the national organization he has grown sofond of the past two years. His election took place during the national VICA conventionJune 23-27, 1997, in Kansas City, Mo.AustinGravesGraves and 13 other Cowley students attended the convention. Post-secondarystudents from Cowley who attended were Graves, Angie Anstine, Becky Russell, Erica Cook,Michael Marvel, Justin Groene, and Chad Wharton. Secondary students attending from Cowley wereDusty Schalk, Alex Bergkamp, Mark Brown, Dave Dow, Nathan Lind, Nick Billings, and Curtis Nuss.Graves, Kansas state VICA president for more than a year, didn't go to Kansas City seeking the highestoffice in VICA."I told this committee of five people, three from the national board of directors and two presentnational officers, that all I wanted was to be a national officer," Graves said. "I told them I would acceptany place they put me."Graves was so impressive during his interview that the committee decided he should run for nationalpresident. He defeated a student from a community college in Texas for the honor.Graves is quick to credit his peers. Cowley's secondary and post-secondary opening and closing ceremoniesteams competed in Kansas City after winning state in their respective divisions. At nationals thepost-secondary team finished fourth. The secondary team did not place, but "came a long way this year,"Graves said.Itwasn't until the last minute that Graves decided to run for a national office. Students must be nominatedat the state conference and approved by the state VICA director. Then they must apply.Graves had help from the start as all five voting delegates from Kansas were Cowley students:Anstine, Marvel, Groene, Cook, and Russell.Nominees were limited to spending no more than $250 on campaign material. Graves spent $2.63."We purchased 200 sheets of paper and on my computer we made pamphlets," Graves said. "It wasn'tAustin Graves running for national office, it was a team thing. We were the first ones to get there (at theconvention) and the last ones to leave."Each one of those people on this team has a piece of the national office. They all helped me getelected. It was another way for Cowley students to get involved and they really took advantage of it."Graves became the second national post-secondary VICA president from Kansas and also the secondone from Cowley. Jeff Hovey was elected national president in 1988.Schalk elected national VPCowley sophomore Dusty Schalk was electedvice president of the national Vocational IndustrialClubs of America during its summer national conferencein Kansas City in late June 1998.Schalk has been heavily involved in the localand state VICA chapters and will serve a term ofone year as national vice president.Fellow Cowley VICA students Carole Shoupand Jessica Ferree placed high at the skills competitionin Kansas City. Shoup took third place inaviation, while Feree earned a third place in theprepared speech category.In all, 22 Cowley VICA students competed atnationals in Kansas City.