FBLA Cleans Up at Conference

DAYTON - Dayton High's Future Business Leaders of America club sent 26 students to the Southeast Regional Winter Business Conference in Kennewick on February 12. They were one of the two largest groups at the confer­ence, and all 26 qualified to move on to the state compe­tition in Seattle in April.

The Kennewick confer­ence included schools of all sizes from Southeast Wash­ington, and it included com­petition in a wide variety of business-related categories. More than 100 competitive events were held, accord­ing to business teacher Rob Moore, who is Dayton's FBLA advisor.

Dayton students took first place in 19 events, and they placed in one of the top five spots in 32 events. In several events, they took at least three of the top five spots. A top-five placement qualifies a participant for state.

Moore said that the size of the contingent travel­ing to Seattle is not yet determined. "We hope to at least take everyone with a top-three placing," he said. Whether others could go would depend on available funds, Moore added.

Some of the FBLA club members sat down with The Times last week for an interview. Junior Taylor Frame, who is Vice Presi­dent for the southeast region (that's the top office for the region) was part of a team who placed first in Parlia­mentary Procedure. For regionals, team members took a 100 question written test. Her teammates - all ju­niors -were Keelin Hovrud, Matthew Warren and Carlos Oribio.

"This is one of the most prestigious events," Frame said. She said that at the state presentation, the top ten teams after the written test will take part in mock meetings, where they will demonstrate their "parli" skills, as they call them. "That's one of the most fun FBLA events," said Frame, who took part in a mock meeting at state last year.

In Kennewick, Dayton had teams in three of the top four spots for that event. Sophomores Angie Dedl­off, Kellie Moore, Marissa Klein and Carissa Price placed second, and fresh­men Ally Chapman, Josilyn Fullerton, Jennifer Warren, Kianna Price and Alexis Walker placed fourth.

Junior Ian Smay took first place in the Job Inter­view event in Kennewick. Two of his teammates also placed - Hovrud was sec­ond and Junior Sarah Phil­lips took fourth.

Each student submitted a resume and letter of ap­plication for a job of their choice. Then, at the com­petition, they went through an interview process. "I applied for a job in human resources,"Smay said. After his win, he said, "I was re­ally surprised."

Dayton FBLAers did especially well in computer- related events. Sophomores Angie Dedloff and Angela Mascall took first in Desk­top Publishing. Prior to the conference, the pair created a book jacket, ad and flyer to promote a new (pretend) novel. Dedloff also was first in the graphic design com­petition. Mascall was third in digital design and promo­tion.

Smay and Oribio took the top two spots in Data­base Design. Oribio was first in spreadsheet design, while Smay took third.

Another important cat­egory at the Kennewick conference was FBLA Prin­ciples and procedures. It's a 100-question test, and the Dayton participants cleaned up. Angie Dedloff and An­gela Mascall took first place, Ally Chapman was second, Alishia Johnson, third and Shandre Owens fourth.

The students we talked to all said their FBLA experi­ence will be a big help to them as they enter careers. "It's really helped my self- confidence," said Sarah Phillips.

The state conference will be held in the Weston Hotel in downtown Se­attle on April 17-19. The school provides transporta­tion and will pay for lodging for Moore and three other adults traveling with the group. But the students will have to raise money for their lodging.

A couple of Dayton stu­dents are running for officer positions at the state confer­ence. Frame is running for the Parliamentarian posi­tion. It's a state-wide office, and she will have to make a presentation and then be voted in by delegates from throughout the state. Hov­rud is running for Frame's current position as South­east Region Vice President.

Frame said she hopes several Dayton team mem­bers will qualify for the FBLA National Confer­ence, which will be held in Nashville this year. Last summer she attended the National Conference in Anaheim, along with team­mates Hovrud, Caitlyn Robins, Matthew Warren, Malia Frame and Grant Heinrich.