It was California dreamin’ come true for a duo from Thomas County Central High School’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter.
Class of 2017 graduates Ellen Ponder and Ansley Jones earned third place in their category during the FBLA National Leadership Conference and Competition, held this past summer in Anaheim, Calif. The competition featured entrants from the U.S. and numerous other countries, including China and Haiti.
“It was such an amazing moment for us,” Ellen Ponder, whose goal since freshman year has been to make it to nationals (in California), said. “We were extremely happy about making it to nationals, but placing as well as we did felt like we were floating among the clouds. We had a lot of confidence in our project so it was really wonderful for it to translate so well to the judges.”
Jones feels “extremely blessed” that she and Ponder, being from a small Southern town, accomplished such an honor.
“To me it really showed how hard Ellen and I worked to first make it to the national competition as well as place,” she explained. “Whenever we heard that we placed third, I was ecstatic. It was truly an amazing experience.”
The duo’s category was Social Media Campaign. They placed first at the region and state levels earlier this year, which advanced them to national competition.
This year’s category objective was to create hype around an upcoming G-Rated television show or movie, Jones explained. The partners created an original reality TV show called “Southern Royals” about Southern teenage social elites and a social media campaign to promote its “premiere.”
In between state and national competition, the duo “went more in depth with the different social platforms,” Jones said.
They made six social media platforms and created a marketing presentation, Ponder explains.
“We practiced every day leading up to our flight to California,” she said. “We really wanted to have fun in California but we wanted to do well in our performance, too.”
Both young ladies describe national competition as “intense.”
“You have to know your stuff inside and out,” Jones said. “For our specific category, we had to present to one judge in the first round. Then, once we made it to finals we presented again to a panel of judges.”
Ponder explains the competition setup.
“In the Social Media Campaign competition, there were a total of 180 teams competing,” she said. “In the first round, groups of teams were split by thin curtains in tiny rooms with a judge in each one. You had to make sure your voice was projecting well to that one judge because the entire ballroom was full of these tiny cubicles of teams that were all projecting their voices, too. However, finals was much easier to handle because it was much like our state competition with a room with four judges and an audience.”
Both graduates have praise for their time in the school’s FBLA chapter.
Jones is “truly thankful” to have been a part of FBLA and calls it a “great experience” that “truly made” her high school years.
Joining FBLA gave Ponder’s life direction. She calls the decision one of the best of her freshman year and her life.
“School educates us in…English, science, math, and history through K-12, but I’m so grateful that Thomas County offers pathways such as business and clubs like FBLA,” she said. “I learned that I love graphic design, marketing, advertising and public relations! I want a career in a field that evokes emotion from a viewer just in a single glance, and FBLA helped me light the path and see the future I want to be in.”
TCCHS FBLA Advisor Nicholas Haskin calls Ponder and Jones trailblazers who represent the best of what TCCHS students can achieve.
“They worked so hard to perfect their submission and presentation,” he said. “From becoming state champions to placing third in the world, I could not be more proud of these young ladies for blazing a trail that I hope others will follow."