Four students from the Tyrone chapter of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) placed in the top three and advanced to the State FBLA conference in the annual Competitive Events Program.

The four members who qualified for the state conference are seniors Lexus Weaver and Rilee Barndt and juniors Elizabeth Fryer and Emma Reese.

The Tyrone chapter competed in competitive tests on various subjects against students from Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, Elk County Catholic High School, Juniata Valley, Mifflin County, Mount Union, State College, and Sugar Valley Rural Charter School.

“[FBLA] tests the knowledge on business-related subjects and prepares students to be leaders in their future endeavors,” said FBLA advisor and Tyrone business teacher, Amanda Burega.

Barndt took third place in the competitive event of Business Management.

The Business Management event focused on information and communication systems, human resource management, financial management, business operations, business ownership and law, strategic management, marketing, and economic concepts.

Fryer placed second in the competitive event of Journalism.

The Journalism event focused on the economics of Journalism, grammar and format, law and ethics, the business of Journalism, and the history of Journalism.

“I was surprised because I didn’t know how many people were in it and how well I would do. I also didn’t know what it would be like because it’s my first year,” said Fryer.

Reese took second in Word Processing.

This test focused on formatting content, related application knowledge, sharing and maintaining documents, and grammar, punctuation, spelling, and proofreading. The testing process for Reese’s event included a one-hour production test and a one-hour online objective test.

Weaver competed in the Health Care Administration competitive event and placed third.

The Health Care Administration test focused on managing office procedures, medical terminology, health insurance, medical history, and infection control.

The two other students who competed in the FBLA regional competition were junior Hailey Vanish and senior Nathan Yon. Both competed in highly competitive events with students from each chapter of the region. Vanish placed sixth in Personal Finance and Yon placed eighth in Political Science.

“I was very proud of all my students for coming out of their comfort zones by taking their tests. The four that made it onto states is a bonus,” said Burega.

For the state part of the competition, all five members will have to take another round of tests virtually and compete against other students who are involved in the same competitive event as them.

If a student places high at states, they move on to the national competition against students from across the country.

According to their website, FBLA is a national student organization that provides leadership development programs to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship. Millions of students have learned through active membership in FBLA about the world of business and what is expected of them in the workplace.

This year’s FBLA Pennsylvania State Conference will be held at Hershey Conference Center from April 10th through 13th.

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