They tested, they performed, they conquered.

Last Friday, FBLA members represented PHU well at SPC’s Seminole campus for their annual district competition, with 17 members total qualifying to attend the State Leadership Conference. Earlier that week on Tuesday, January 27, members took objective tests on campus while members competing in a category requiring performances took the stage Friday. The results from each category of events were released Friday afternoon.

Backing up, FBLA stands for the Future Business Leaders of America, a student-led club that meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays each month.

“We get a lot of students from the IB and medical programs that participate in FBLA.” the club adviser, Kevin Schachter, said.

Multiple workshops are held every year at school, teaching students professionalism and other business concepts to help them with January’s district competitions. It’s a lot of work, but every year most of the students in the club still choose to participate.

“I think everybody has their own reason. For some, it’s something that they have an interest in that they want to learn, for some it’s competitive nature, and for some it’s something that they’re already good at, so they’ve already had some success in that particular thing so comes more easily to them.” Schachter said.

There are about 65 topics, ranging from the traditional public speaking and accounting to something more modern like computer game & simulation programming. With such a wide variety, finding something that’s similar to your academic strengths or interests is simple. When you find the right topic, it doesn’t feel so much like work.

FBLA gives the opportunity to converse with new people, be recognized at a district, state, or even national level, and to create pleasant high school memories that will stand out among the rest.