Juniors Rocky Andrews and Anna Pickens placed first in their events at The Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) state conference held March 19-21 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. The duo, lead by advisor Jane Pendergrast, qualified for the national FBLA competition and will travel to Baltimore in June.
Andrews, who is a second-year member and competed in the public speaking event, felt confident and prepared going into the competition.
“Of course I was nervous, but I generally had positive thoughts,” Andrews said. “I knew I had [the speech] down, and I knew I would succeed in delivering it.”
Pickens, who is a first-year member, was surprised by her success in the job interview event and is looking forward to participating in nationals.
“I really didn’t think I was going to win considering how many people I would have to beat even to get on to the next level,” Pickens said. “I was crazy shocked and excited that I got through and just wanted to do it for the experience.”
Pendergrast was proud of her team’s overall performance and feels that practice was their key to success.
“I made them practice until they were tired of practicing, because the more you work on it, the better you are,” Pendergrast said. “We had lots of other people listen to them talk and ask them interview questions.”
Pickens credits Andrews for sparking her interest in the club and encouraging her to join.
“I didn’t know about FBLA until last year when I saw my friend Rocky dressed up a lot in business attire,” Pickens said. “I asked him questions about it, and he really got me into it.”
Pendergrast hopes the organization will continue to grow and sees it as a great opportunity for high school students to obtain valuable life skills.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to be able to learn to communicate and network with others as well as develop their leadership skills that will be very beneficial to them in the future,” Pendergrast said.
– By Madeline Conte
