Jackson FBLA Shows Success at State

The Future Business Leaders of America chapter from Jackson High School participated in the Missouri State FBLA Leadership Conference in Columbia, Missouri, April 17-19, 2011. Three advisers and 26 students attended the conference.

After opening with competitions on Sunday, chapter members ran a campaign for Kathy Scienski for State Secretary, which included a campaign booth on Sunday evening and a skit and speech on Monday morning. Kathy was successful in the primary election on Monday, but fell short at the final election Monday afternoon.

On Monday night, the Jackson chapter was recognized for participation in various state projects including Camp Quality, Environmental Awareness, In Praise of Age, March of Dimes, Reach Out and Care, and Change a Child. In addition, four members were presented with pins for achieving the Leader level in the FBLA Business Achievement Awards program--Melissa Stephens, Kathy Scienski, Tori Schweer, and Jordan Thomas. Schweer and Thomas were also recognized for reaching the America level, which will be awarded at the National conference in June. Finally, Jackson received the Award of Merit, a great honor for chapters in Missouri.

That evening, the students heard keynote speaker Bill Cordes, who gave a keynote address entitled YOGOWYPI, which stood for You Only Get Out What You Put In. He discussed how people react to situations with shame, blame, freak out, denial, or by just quitting and encouraged students to use one four letter word to deal with things that don't go their way--NEXT.

During the Award of Excellence program on Tuesday, Jackson received the following top ten finishes:

10th place--E-Business (Kyle Amelunke)

9th place--Accounting (Zach McDowell)

8th place--

Business Plan (Taylor Dickerson and Katie Garner)

FBLA Principles and Procedures (Melissa Stephens)

Introduction to Parliamentary Procedures (Melissa Stephens)

7th place--Technology Concepts (Kevin Phelps)

6th place--

Introduction to Business Communication (Rachel Smith)

Job Interview (Jessica Stearns)

4th place--

Who's Who in Missouri FBLA (Jordan Thomas)

Parliamentary Procedures Team (Jordan Thomas, Sydnei Lemmons, Beth Wheatley, Jen Stahlman, and Taylor Dickerson)

Partnership with Business Project Report (Taylor Dickerson, Sydnei Lemmons, Jordan Thomas)

3rd place--

Network Design (Stetson Tuschhoff and Kevin Phelps)

Business Financial Plan (Michael Riney, Ray Hecht, and Kathy Scienski)

American Enterprise Project Report (Ray Hecht, Kathy Scienski, Ashley Stahlman)

The following students achieved top honors and are eligible to advance to the National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, this summer:

2nd place--

Digital Design and Promotion (Emily Holloway)

Electronic Career Portfolio (Michael Riney)

1st place--

Help Desk (Stetson Tuschhoff)