Third place in the nation looks pretty good on a team from the Fulton Chapter of Future Business Leaders of America.
"I'll cry if I say too much," their advisor, Gina McLachlan, said.
School officials announced this week the accomplishment made at the FBLA Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference from June 28-July 1 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Four members and McLachlan from the Fulton FBLA chapter represented the state of Missouri at the conference. Heidi Royer and Gabe Luebbert placed third in the Business Ethics category, while Paige Key and Ellie McCray competed in the Business Financial Plan event.
"It's very exciting to be third in the nation," McLachlan said. "They worked hard for this."
The third-place win actually garnered each of the two students prize money of $100 each.
"When they got to fourth place (announcing the winners), Gabe looked at me and said, 'We're in the money,'" McLachlan added. "They got a free trip to Baltimore and $100; that's pretty good."
While there, the Fulton chapter also received the Gold Seal Chapter given to the top 15 active chapters in the state. The young women also served as voting delegates. In addition, there were many workshops and meetings to attend.
The competition is part of a competitive events program sponsored annually by FBLA-PBL, a professional association for students pursuing business careers. Individuals, local chapters and state teams compete in more than 60 events representing a range of business, career and leadership development activities. The winners of these challenging and prestigious awards are selected from FBLA-PBL's 210,000-plus members, and have won regional and state competitions to qualify for the national awards program. The 12,000 delegates celebrated the 76th year of the organization and 67th year of the conference, elected national student officers and attended business and leadership workshops, in addition to competing in business and career skill events.
This year's national theme, "FBLA-PBL: Step Up to the Challenge," reflected the goals of FBLA-PBL members, some of the best and the brightest of today's young people.
FBLA-PBL is a nonprofit organization preparing students for careers in business and business education. Members and advisers in 6,000 chartered chapters include students from the United States, Puerto Rico, China, Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Guam, the Cayman Islands and Europe.
Its mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs.