Business Finance Four-Year Academy at Olathe South High School

07/13/2026

🚨 Calling all incoming BFA freshmen {+ families}! 🚨

Please check your email for our new team building date!

We are looking forward to meeting everyone in just a few short weeks!

Olathe South High School

05/06/2026

Our Business Finance Investing students entered a statewide Financial Literacy Essay Contest that was sponsored by the Kansas Department of Insurance and the Kansas Council of Economic Education.

Students were given a scenario and were tasked with giving sound advice in no more than 1,500 words.

We were overjoyed to learn (yesterday!) that our very own Alisa Saycocie won 2nd Place in this contest!

Her award includes a $3,000 scholarship awarded in a 529 account to help support Alisa and her future goals.

We continue to be proud of the many opportunities our students have and their willingness to rise to the occasion.

📸 Photo: (1) Kansas Department of Insurance, Alisa and her mom, AP Andrew Miller, and Director of Innovative Learning, Mr. Doug Kapeller; (2) Alisa and Ms. Bell.

04/28/2026

One of our Olathe South High School Seniors, Anya M., will be recognized for earning the Pat DiPlacido Memorial Scholarship at the Grand Awards Session at the 2026 International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, GA!

We are so proud of her many accomplishments, but more proud of who she is as a human being in our building.

Let’s goooo!!! 💙💛

Congratulations to the 2026 DECA International Career Development Conference competitive event champions!

03/25/2026

Join us TONIGHT at Chipotle! We are sending 14 students to DECA Nationals in a month! 💛💙

Order online using code: BLCAJBP

Show this flyer to help us earn some money!

03/25/2026

Our BFA student made waves at the KC BizFest competition and won 1st Place - along with a $3,000 scholarship!

We are so proud of her innovative ideas!

02/06/2026

Mrs. Wichhart’s Banking and Finance students had some prime-time celebrations at today’s Olathe South Pep Assembly.

These juniors worked for close to 3 months on a client-connected project with Mr. Darren Jones, Branch Manager of the Farmer’s Insurance Group Federal Credit Union (FIGFCU) in Overland Park, Kansas.

The goal: generate ideas for services, programs, incentives that might help FIGFCU attract and retain more GenZ members.

Students paired their learning about banks, credit unions, and financial institutions with market research, and pitched their best ideas!

On the day of presentations, the CEO was trapped in Chicago with bad weather — but that didn’t stop her from allowing the local OP team to sweeten the pot with $750 for the winning group! ($250 for each team member!)

So many great ideas were pitched - and truth be told, a smorgasbord of the ideas from various groups are in the works to be rolled out company-wide. We are so proud of the presentations and research that went into these projects!

A huge congratulations to Derek T., Mateo G., and Taylan R. - winners of the FIGFCU project challenge!

For you at home— consider downloading the app and start learning more about how to take control of your finances!

{Additionally, our Business Finance Academy has grown and we still have a few spots left to fill up our incoming Freshmen class - email us at [email protected] for more information}

Olathe Career Pathways Olathe South High School

08/28/2025

We have so many different {exciting} things going on in our Business Finance Academy!

Olathe South High School seniors — Anya M. and Beatriz M. — presented tonight to the Olathe Public Schools Diversity and Engagement Advisory Council.

This dynamic duo continues to go above and beyond in learning what active advocacy and community involvement looks like!



📸 Credit: Ramshaw

08/27/2025

Our BFA Freshies are learning how to work in teams and communicate effectively!

At Olathe South High School we value Accountability, Integrity, and Resiliency!

Today our BFA’ers established their team’s core values, and assessed their skills. We wil begin establishing our classroom values and our meeting norms.

We also learned a little about skills. These students have a wide variety of skills.

Student Quote of the Day: “C’mon guys, we need to do more than the bare minimum — I want a promotion!”

08/09/2025

Our crew of 27 BFA Freshies made our journey out to TimberRidge Adventure Center for a day of team building and fun!

We overcame communication challenges, worked on active listening, and proved that we were capable of working through new situations. These students really stepped up to help each other and pushed past their comfort zones.

We also pushed through the physical discomfort of the high temperatures and oppressive humidity {and lack of cell phones, thanks Ms. Bell…}

We are excited to welcome the entire incoming class of Freshmen on Wednesday!

It is going to be a great year!

Olathe South High School
💛💙🎉