FBLA competes at State Leadership Conference

The Washington State FBLA Leadership Conference was held in Spokane on April 15-17 and was attended by 26 students from Odessa High School. The trip began with a visit to Riverfront Park early Wednesday morning where members had the opportunity to meet Sam Song, Recreation and Entertainment Manager for Spokane Parks and Recreation. Sam shared his journey from growing up in a small village of 750 people in China to becoming a manager in River Front Park. What was supposed to be a business tour turned into a profound experience with timeless advice provided by Song.

The FBLA conference began Wednesday at noon with keynote speaker Howard Behar. His business career spans more than 50 years, most notably as the founding President of Starbucks Coffee. During his tenure, the business grew from 28 stores to 15,000. He shared his leadership model with FBLA members and highlights from his book, "It's Not About the Coffee." Students had a lineup of amazing speakers and entertainment throughout the conference, including Robbie Bach, founder of Xbox and a concert by Cami Bradley, who placed sixth on America's Got Talent. Students competed all day Wednesday and Thursday against some very tough competitors in 21 events.

On Friday morning, the Awards of Excellence ceremony began. With 2,000 students in attendance, the competition was tough, but the Odessa students were ecstatic when many of their names were called to the stage for awards. Nineteen students from Odessa have qualified to attend the National Leadership Conference in Chicago, Illinois in June.

A group of hard-working sophomores came home with a fifth-place finish for their American Enterprise Project, "The American Enterprise System Goes Viral with FES." Rebecca Fortner, Colby Sooy, John DeWulf, Aaron Gies and Wyatt Haase conducted a project, wrote a 15-page report and gave an outstanding presentation to win the award.

Zoe Clark, Molly Schafer, and Alexis Burdick placed first with their Business Financial Plan. Given the scenario that they were applying for a business loan to open an interior design business, the students interviewed Gina Cook from Gina's Design Center in Spokane and wrote a 15-page business plan describing their need for the loan, how they would acquire it, and how they would pay it back. Students then gave a presentation at state and received an outstanding score from their judges!

Each year the Odessa chapter summarizes its activities in a 15-page Local Chapter Annual Business Report. Writing the report and placing second at state were Shelbey Watkins, Tyler Paris and Rebecca Fortner. This report is also used as the criteria for Odessa's achievement as a Gold Seal Chapter of Merit.

Elizabeth Larson, Paige Alloway, Brad Johnston, Chance Messer and Jayd Jennings placed first with their Partnership with Business Project. Their project involved working with the Lincoln County Economic Development Council to host a career fair for teens in Odessa, writing a 15-page report and giving a seven-minute presentation. Margie Hall was instrumental in the team achieving this success!

Working with Chris Shafer of the BLM, the Odessa chapter spent hours improving the Craters Loop Trail for the chapter's Community Service Project. Jenna Shafer, Trevor King, Carsen Weber, Colton Hunt and Dakota Largent wrote the 15-page report and presented their project to receive a first-place award.

"Sweatshops and child labor" was the topic for the case study presented by three different Odessa Business Ethics teams. Two teams made the finals, the team of Zoe Clark, Brad Johnston and Katie DeWulf, and the team of Rebecca Fortner, Tyler Paris and Colby Sooy. The team of Fortner, Paris and Sooy placed fourth in the event.

Stacia Lesser, Katie DeWulf and Tyler Paris placed first in the Business Plan competition. They wrote a 30-page business plan for a company they created called Happy Hounds.

Odessa placed in two graphic design events. Johnathon Brightwell and Stacia Lesser placed second in Desktop Publishing and Brightwell and Parker Valverde placed fourth with their state pin design.

Other competitors included Sam Schafer in Electronic Career Portfolio, Molly Schafer in Job Interview and Sales Presentation, Stacia Lesser in Accounting, the team of Trevor King, Jenna Shafer and Carsen Weber in Business Ethics, the team of John DeWulf, Wyatt Haase and Colby Sooy in Public Service Announcement, Jenna Shafer and Elizabeth Larson in Desktop Publishing, the team of Zoe Clark, John DeWulf and Chance Messer in Emerging Business Issues, and Alexis Burdick in Client Service. Two teams created and presented projects on Identity Theft. Team one included Paige Alloway, Sam Schafer and Patrick Valverde, and Team Two included Brad Johnston, Colton Hunt and Jayd Jennings.

Preparations for the state FBLA competition are a year in the making. Students and their parents began fundraising last fall at Deutschesfest and didn't quit until the Stumpjumpers event. All students paid for their own conference registration fee of $310. Most students spend months completing their projects, writing reports, and preparing presentations for their competitions.

The chapter owes much of its success to hard work and great parental support. We appreciate all of our proofreaders, Kelly Weber, Duane Pitts, Laura Caler and Marianne Iksic. Success would not come to so many without our amazing speech coaches Jeanie Read, Kelly Weber and Jackie Johnston. Besides listening to hours and hours of presentation rehearsals, they fed, ironed, escorted, and looked out for the needs of all 26 students. We truly appreciate the support from the administration and staff who encourage the students in so many ways.