Three Fairbury FBLA members advance to national competition following the 2016 FBLA Nebraska State Leadership Conference held April 7-9 in Omaha. The annual conference provided competition in 71 events, leadership training, networking, and fun for FBLA members across the state. Fairbury FBLA’s 15 qualifying members joined over 2800 Nebraska members and advisers to compete and celebrate another successful year in FBLA.
Throughout the leadership event, members participated in competitive events, motivational seminars, and the election of the new State Officer Team. Honorable Mention awards were announced at the second general session, recognizing those who placed in the top 4% of each event. The Awards Program held on Saturday morning announced the top eight winners in each event and revealed who would represent Nebraska FBLA at the National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, this summer.
Seniors Halle Knigge and Lindsay Lee, and junior Justin Peterson presented the chapter’s American Enterprise project at the conference. This project profiled the chapter’s cookie baking business implemented with the 3rd-grade classrooms earlier in the school year. A 15-page report was submitted in February, which was one of five selected for oral presentation at SLC. A seven-minute oral overview and Power Point were presented to a panel of three judges at the conference. The combined score of their written report and oral presentation placed third to advance to the top competition at the 2016 National Leadership Conference in June.
Freshman Isaac Robertson won the Proofreading event and placed third in the Spelling contest. Sophomore Jacob Johnson earned fifth place in the Spelling event. Junior Hannah Yantz placed fifth in Publication Design. Senior Nick Christiansen placed eighth in Job Interview. Over 337 students competed in this event, placing Nick in the top 2% of this event. Lindsay Lee received honorable mention in Accounting I and junior Justin Peterson earned an honorable mention in Securities and Investments.
Nick Christiansen, Trent Grizzle and Jacob Johnson earned the chapter’s Gold Seal Award of Merit with their Local Chapter Annual Business Report. Fairbury FBLA received the prestigious Sweepstakes Award, representing active participation in the state’s program of work. The chapter also received recognition for contributing to the Nebraska FBLA Foundation and the Nebraska March of Dimes. Fairbury FBLA was also honored for their participation in the Feed Nebraska Project through their food drive in the fall and integration of technology in chapter activities throughout the year.
Fairbury chapter members attending were: Seniors: Nick Christiansen, Lindsay Lee, Halle Knigge; Juniors: Justin Peterson, Megg Vaughn, Hannah Yantz, Anthony Moyer; Sophomores: Dawson DeBoer, Trent Grizzle, Jacob Johnson and Freshman: Destiny Brown, Nichole Harris, Devin Holliday, Mikasa Lierman, and Isaac Robertson. Adviser Melissa Dux and parent-sponsor Julie Knigge accompanied the Fairbury delegation.