Salisbury, MO, July 9, 2018– Eight members of the Missouri Future Business Leaders of America – Phi Beta Lambda Chapter from Salisbury High School recently traveled to Baltimore, Maryland for the FBLA-PBL National Leadership Conference (NLC). The NLC is the pinnacle of the year, with over 15,000 attendees and 140 competitive events. Attending students had to qualify after competing at the State Leadership Conference in Springfield, Missouri in April.
This year’s NLC brought Salisbury chapter members, Allison Binder, Jill Collier, Sidney Marek, Laura White, Brooke Stefankiewicz, Bryn Wooldridge, Emmett Gutz, and Sydney Stundebeck, to the birthplace Banner – Baltimore, Maryland – for several days of interactive leadership workshops from the American Management Association, MBA Research, and KPMG. Students also toured the sites around Baltimore, networked with members from other states and the world, and competed for national recognition and scholarship.
“Receiving a medal was incredible, but I gained so much more from Nationals; I gained respect for myself and for the other competitors. It was an exhilarating and slightly terrifying experience that helped me gain confidence in my abilities, awe for the abilities of those around me, and many practical professional skills that I will be able to use in my career.” –Laura White, Senior SHS FBLA member
Student competitive events have topics ranging from Accounting to Marketing, Website Development to Personal Finance. All competitive events are aligned to the standards taught in Missouri classrooms, allowing for an intra-curricular experience to showcase skills taught. Missouri FBLA brought home 42 Top 10 finishes.
“Competing was a nerve-wrecking, but thrilling experience. I loved it and I will remember it for the rest of my life.” – Sydney Stundebeck, Freshman SHS FBLA member
Overall, Salisbury High School represented Missouri well, by leading the state with four national medals. Those national medals included:
Laura White, 3rd in Client Service
Allison Binder, Jill Collier, and Sidney Marek, 4th in Broadcast Journalism
Sydney Stundeeck, 8th in Sales Presentation
Brooke Stefankiewicz and Bryn Wooldridge, 9th in Digital Video Production
Missouri FBLA-PBL also brought home numerous awards, including the largest state chapter in the North Central Region and 2nd largest state chapter in the nation. A highlight of the conference was the election of Amber Raub (University of Missouri) as National PBL Secretary, Kerri Young (Missouri State University) as National PBL North Central Region Vice President, and Eli Amyx (Gainesville High School) as National FBLA North Central Regional Vice President. This is the second year in the past three years that Missouri is represented in three of the 18 National Offices.
Missouri FBLA-PBL, a chartered member of National FBLA-PBL, is a registered 501(c)3. Their mission inspires and prepares students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences. Missouri FBLA-PBL membership exceeds 15,500, making it the second largest state chapter of the organization in the nation and the second largest career and technical student organization in Missouri.
