FBLA brings high school students for campus visit
The College of Business welcomed 267 students from 14 different high schools from all across Utah Wednesday.
The students are a part of the Future Business Leaders of America and came to USU to prepare themselves for competitions that will start next year. Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), the collegiate division of the FBLA, sponsored the event.
Shauna Karren, director of the Career and Education Opportunity Center, is the adviser for the institution. She said high school students come to USU to practice for the regional, state and national FBLA competitions.
“The students were tested in many different ways such as interviews, written tests and speech,” Karren said.
She also said 15 students from the College of Business helped with the organization of the project. Ginger Wester, president of the USU chapter Xi Nu of FBLA and graphic design major, said not only students helped but also faculty of the CEO center.
“They helped us by judging the test the students were taking,” she said.
Wester said the event raised money for PBL members to compete in Orlando, Fla., next June in the FBLS national competition. Each participating high school student paid a fee of $10.
But the event is more than a fundraiser, Karren said.
It also is a service project developed by the PBL students and a way to show high school students USU and the College of Business.
“When students from all the state come for the competition they can see how Utah State works,” she said.
The preparation started early, since the state competition is next semester. Wester said both high school students and university students will compete for the state title on April 8 and 9.
“But since the state of Utah has five different regions, and each region has its own dates for competition, we started early,” she said.
According to the FBLA Web site, students should be prepared to discuss on the matter of “corporate merges within similar media or business markets.”
High school students will also have to develop a multimedia presentation on the benefits of the FBLA programs in their schools and encouraging other schools to join the project, according to the Web page.
According to the FBLA Web site, the institution awards “excellence in a broad range of business and career related areas.” Despite many students thinking the PBL is for business majors, that’s not the case, Wester said.
“Anyone interested in improving his or her leadership skills and wanting to work in any area of business, no matter what major he or she is in, can participate,” she said.
The Future Business Leaders of America first started in 1940 at Columbia University. Tennessee was the first state to have a high school join the project in 1942.
The first university to be a part of the program is from Iowa and joined FBLA in 1958, according to the FBLA Web page. Today, FBLA’s headquarters is located in Reston, Va.
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