Searcy (LP) The Searcy Future Business Leaders of America attended and competed in the Arkansas State competition on April 2nd and 3rd. The conference took place in the Marriot Hotel in Little Rock and included many events. Searcy competitors were Wesley Aday in Organizational Leadership, Rylie Castille in Advertising, Everett Kirkman in Business Communications, Leo Martinez in Journalism, Nathan Sawyer Introduction to Financial Math, and Weston Simpson in Introduction to Business Communications.
Will Faust, an FBLA member attending the conference, said, “I had fun at the conference. We learned a lot from the workshop classes they held, and it was cool to see the schools from all over the state attending.” There was more than just competitions though. FBLA held many workshop classes on how to navigate the business world and financial literacy. Faust said, ” The workshops actually taught me a lot. They taught us things like how to save money as an adult, do taxes, and how the stock market works.” In addition to the workshops, FBLA hosted a talent show with many different acts, and provided the audience with an entertaining display. After the first day, a small concert was held with performers, and guest speakers, one of those including Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas. Will Faust said, ” The Governor speaking at our conference was actually pretty cool. He gave an inspiring speech and told us how valuable having an business education can be in the world.”
On the second day of the State Conference, scores were finally ready to be announced. From the Searcy Team, Wesley Aday placed third in the state for Organizational Leadership, and Weston Simpson also placed third in the state in Introduction to Business Communications. Both of these members will compete against other states on the National level, in Anaheim, California from June 27 through July 3rd.
The Future Business Leaders of America state conference was a success for Searcy and we wish our finalist good luck as they compete in the Nationals. Hopefully our FBLA team next year will do just as great as they did this year.
