Twelve Tyrone students attended the Future Business Leaders of America Region 14 Conference on January 10, 2025, at the South Hills Business School in State College, where they competed in several categories.
Five Tyrone students placed in the top three and will advance to the Pennsylvania State Leadership Conference in the spring.
Junior and Chapter Secretary Lydia Meredith and Junior Paige Carper worked together and won first place in the broadcast journalism category. Senior Logan Rumberger also took home gold in the Social Media Strategies category.
“Paige and I worked very hard on our presentation. We are super excited to be moving on. We would like to give a special thanks to TCamm for his help island allowing us to utilize his equipment because, without him, we wouldn’t have been able to make it,” Meredith said.
Senior Andrew Escala placed second in marketing and senior Logan Harpster was third in sports and entertainment management.
The FBLA conference competitions are a great way for students to showcase their skills and connect with others who share similar interests.
Chapter Advisor Derrick Soellner said that this year’s event was well put together and gave students a fun-filled day of competition and networking.
“As the advisor, I enjoy attending the FBLA Regional Conference. I believe that this is a great opportunity for many of our students to attend a professional gathering and to understand the importance of things like dress and demeanor,” Soellner said.
Soellners FBLA team had Five individuals that moved onto States, Logan Rumberger, Andrew Escala, Logan Harpster, Paige Carper, and Lydia Meredith
Getting the chance to move on to the Pennsylvania State Leadership Conference is a big deal, as it can lead to even more opportunities, like scholarships and leadership roles.
“I really enjoy seeing the live competitions and how competitors are doing in different events and then we get to see how all of our students did with the awards ceremony,” said Soellner. “It also brings back memories for me when I was in high school and attending the FBLA Regionals.”
Members chose to participate in one of the following categories: objective test, presentation event, role-play event, chapter event, or production event.
The students also watched a keynote presentation by James Tierney, co-owner of the Blue Brick Theater and owner of Tierney Education. His lesson provided insight into how improvisation is used in everyone’s day-to-day life.
Tierney’s engaging approach and practical examples made the concept of improvisation relatable and applicable to the student’s future careers.
The top three placings at the Regional Leadership Conference will advance to the State Leadership Conference, where they will compete further.
The results at the state conference will determine if members qualify for the National Leadership Conference held in Anaheim, California. This final stage is an honorable opportunity for those who excel in their categories.
Fourth-place finishers were Paige Hoy in healthcare administration and Carlie Nowlin in journalism.
Alex Star was fifth in the financial math category.
Hailey Lowery finished sixth in journalism and Piper Myers was sixth in personal finance.
Clark Tuskovich and Tyke Beck were top 15 in computer game and simulation programming,
