Lowry High School sent 14 students to the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) state competition in Las Vegas. Each student, as required by FBLA Adviser Lisa Scott, competed in at least four events at the competition.
Of the 14 students that competed, 10 of them placed well enough in their competitions to compete in nationals. Students who placed top three or four in their competition are eligible to compete in nationals, said Scott, which will be held in Chicago, Ill., in June.
With funding limited, Scott said most students will have to pay for themselves to get to nationals. Scott tries to fundraise throughout the year for travel expenses and said if students come up with activities or get sponsors, she does what she can to help. Only three students have confirmed they will be going to nationals as of Friday, May 1. Madison Mayo, who placed third in her job interview, will be going; Elise Rose, who placed second in Public Speaking; and senior Megan Lombardi, who placed first in Business Financial Plan and third in Accounting II will also be going.
According to its site (www.fbla-pbl.org), FBLA is the largest business career student organization in the world. The competitions, according to the site, are to recognize and reward excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas. At State Leadership Conferences, students compete in events testing their business knowledge and skills.
Scott explained that students start preparing for the state FBLA competition in January. Most of the competitions at state are presentations, said Scott, that have to be turned in before the competition. Students practice and work on their projects whenever they can fit it in, said Scott. A lot of the her students are involved in other school activities, such as sports, so they come in to work on their lunch periods or after school.
FBLA is a valuable experience for students, said Scott; they get the opportunity to gain real life experience outside of the classroom that helps reinforce the lessons that are taught in class. In competitions, Scott explained, students get a chance to dress professionally and experience what a real interview would be like or speak publicly in front of someone other than their peers.
“They get outside of their comfort zone,” said Scott. “(They) try new and challenging activities, all things that are preparing them for life after high school.”
FBLA has been at Lowry for seven years, said Scott. She started the club when she started working at high school. Due to funding, Scott said, she’s limited on how many students she can have in FBLA. To get to the state competition in Las Vegas, Scott said they used two suburbans owned by the school and, though they have 21 members, she could only take 14 students. Despite that, the students did outstanding, said Scott. There were nearly 500 students at the competition and all 14 students made top 10 at least once.
FBLA is good for students, according to Scott. They get real life experiences, possibly get to travel and they get to a chance to be competitive in an arena that isn’t sports related.
