Ten enterprising Thomas County students have advanced to the national level of competition for Future Business Leaders of America.
Thomas County Central High School Future Business Leaders of America chapter sent approximately 40 students to the FBLA State Leadership Conference, held March 19-22 in Atlanta. The state competition determined who would advance to the national event.
The following TCCHS students will advance to nationals: Logan Sanders, Vance Stephens, Jordan Barrett, Mason Lawing, Shelby Howard, Logan Beever, Keri Corbin, Tessa McCorkle, Tyler Williamson, and Maggie Martin.
"It is a great accomplishment to finally make it to nationals,” senior Jordan Barrett, who placed third with her partner in Digital Video Production, said. “We have worked so hard to get here. I am so proud of my team, Mason (Lawing) and myself, and my FBLA chapter. I wouldn't want to be a part of any other organization my senior year."
The chapter’s advisors are Nicholas Haskin, Michelle Ausley and Feraby Moye.
“What a fantastic weekend of competition,” advisor Michelle Ausley said. “Our students could not have made me any prouder. Their hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship was truly a heartwarming experience. They all came home as winners.”
When not competing, members had the chance to attend seminars about leadership and business opportunities.
“At the lectures I attended, I learned social skills that best fit my strengths and weaknesses,” participant C’lee Kornegay said. “The ‘Mean Girls’ seminar (for example) related our characteristics to a specific ‘Mean Girls’ character. Techniques were given to improve our presentation skills.”
The awards ceremony was held Saturday evening.
Shelby Howard, who placed first in Job Interview and second with her team in Digital Video Production, said her first place win was “a complete surprise.”
“My objective was to apply and interview for the position of media coordinator for a fictitious Merit Corporation,” she said. “Winning first place could be likened to getting the job over every other student in the state.”
Howard said Haskin helped her develop her résumé and cover letter, and provided “some sound advice.” She also received advice from previous category winner Kameron Griffin, who helped coach her through the process.
The preliminary round for her category was held Friday and consisted of a seven minute interview with two judges.
Twelve people, including Howard, were selected to move on to the final round Saturday morning, which included a 10 minute interview with four judges.
“Overall, it was an amazing experience to get the opportunity to compete against some of the brightest people in our state,” Howard said.
Senior Tessa McCorkle placed third in Who’s Who Future Business Leader, a state level only category.
“Who’s Who is the highest honor an FBLA member can receive, and I’m so blessed to have competed for the spot to represent Georgia FBLA on the national level,” McCorkle said.
Her event application included a submitted résumé and three letters of recommendation. She said application strength counted for 50 percent of the total score, and the other half was based on “an in-depth interview.”
McCorkle will compete at nationals with teammate Tyler Williamson in the Website Design category; they placed third in state competition.
"For our website design solution we created 'Cycle Fitness,' an active bicycle shop in New York City, NY,” Williamson explained. “I had a major part in the research portion of the project, and helping develop a modern, simplistic New York style design."
McCorkle said she is “honored” to represent her school and state FBLA chapter in this category, and to be chosen to attend nationals for a second time is “already a delicious cherry on top of my FBLA career.”
Williamson also competed in the Business Plan category with teammate Sam Gelabert. They created “a trendy coffee cafe known as Georgia Joe's,” she explained.
“It was a huge honor to get on the stage in this event,” Williamson said. “It has been one of several goals I'm happy to have accomplished."
Senior FBLA member Logan Beever advanced with her team’s second place win in Digital Video Production. Beever and her teammates, Keri Corbin and Shelby Howard, created a persuasive video to encourage students to join FBLA. They asked themselves how to persuade a student to join, and “the answer was to put ourselves into a student’s shoes” who is not an FBLA member, Beever explained.
"Our idea was about a girl (Shelby) who started off making a wrong decision,” Beever said. “Throughout the video she is faced with opportunities to learn about FBLA but is in a constant battle with her inner conscious on whether she should join or not."
Beever is excited to move on to national competition.
"Being awarded second place, and being able to move on to nationals was honestly one of the most exciting moments in my life, thus far,” she said. “I make so many videos, and work very hard on each of them, so it's an amazing feeling to finally be awarded for one."
Students who competed but didn’t advance to the national level said they still gained valuable lessons from the experience.
“It was such a unique experience that genuinely opened my eyes to all the possibilities FBLA can present,” junior Sam Gelabert said. “I have gained a vast amount of confidence when speaking in front of people or directly to others, my work ethic has changed drastically, and I even learned how to correctly tie a tie.”
It was advisor Feraby Moye’s first year attending the competition.
“This year’s FBLA State Conference was exciting – it was my first year as an advisor and I enjoyed seeing our students celebrate their accomplishments,” Moye said. “We had a great time visiting Atlanta, the students performed well, and I am so proud of each and every one of our FBLA members for doing their very best and bringing home so many awards.”
From now until nationals, students have time to make final polishes to their projects.
“For nationals, my partner and I will make repairs to our website, add detail and practice our presentation,” Williamson said.
FBLA National Leadership Conference will be held June 28-July 3 in Chicago on the “Magnificent Mile.” In the past, six years, TCCHS FBLA has earned five medals of National/International recognition.
"Our students will be preparing aggressively for each of their events at the national level,” FBLA advisor Nicholas Haskin said. “We will have students wrapping up websites, redesigning graphic and marketing designs, polishing up videos, studying business communication techniques, and going through mock interviews and presentations. I am so proud of these students who are already winners. Now, it is time to see just how we stack up against the best from around the world."