On April 3 through 5, 2024, over 1,600 high school and middle school students from across the state of Kansas converged at the Stormont Vail Events Center and the Hotel Topeka at City Center to compete in the state’s largest business student competition—The Kansas Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference. FBLA members from 99 different chapters vied for a chance to compete at this summer’s Future Business Leaders of American National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida on June 29 through July 2, 2024.
With 78 business and technology events, the top four winners in every event have the opportunity to move on to compete against some of the best business students in the nation and around the world. Whether it be competing in objective tests, interviews, public speaking events, presentations or problem-solving scenarios, the Kansas FBLA State Leadership Conference brings excitement and energy to the participants and their advisers. Many students have been spending months preparing for their particular events.
Over 120 career professionals from around the state judged and evaluated the competitors to not only decide who qualified to represent Kansas at nationals, but to also help better the students who were competing in events. Also, of the 78 events that students participated in, at least 70 of them were sponsored by small town businesses, corporations, and individuals. These sponsorships will help to provide some of the first- place event winners with finances to cover a portion of their registration costs to compete at the 2024 National Leadership Conference.
From the excitement of the Opening Session kick off where members presented their campaign speeches and skits, to the climax of the announcing of the event winners, FBLA members had two days of jam-packed activities. Also included in the festivities were campaign booths (and campaigning), college booths, a March of Dimes presentation that pertained to Prematurity Awareness, candidate caucusing, and an energized dance for all attendees.
Centralia FBLA had 14 compete at this year’s state conference. Below are the names of Centralia FBLA members who placed at the 2024 FBLA State Leadership Conference. Winners include:
Agribusiness 1st Parker Koch
Public Policy and Advocacy 1st Parker Koch
Parliamentary Procedures team 2nd (Parker Koch, Lawson Osterhaus, Kieryn Franklin, Jacie Koch)
Economics 8th Parker Koch
Personal Finance 10th Parker Koch
Securities and Investments 6th Parker Koch
With this year’s national FBLA theme being “TOGETHER WE ACHIEVE”, there was no better representation of this theme than through the efforts of all the FBLA advisers across the State of Kansas. The Kansas FBLA State Leadership Conference Dois solely run by the volunteer efforts of every Kansas FBLA adviser and a small group of Kansas FBLA Conference Committee members.
Article by: Misty Poe, FBLA Sponsor