By Shirley Shuman
Ten members of the local FBLA organization competed at the State Leadership Conference to earn the right to compete at the National Leadership Conference in Chicago June 28-July 2. Students in three events placed first and those in two events placed fourth. All will compete at the national level.
Sarah Dennison, Braxton’s FBLA advisor, explained that some of those who competed had taken online tests before the state conference began. Among those were Wyatt Dennison, who placed first in Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure. Dennison competed in an online procedure for his first place and will now compete at the national leadership conference. Another placing first through online testing, Emily Metheney also earned the right to compete nationally. Her topic was Healthcare Administration.
Earning fourth place and the right to compete nationally were Piper Tonkin and Zoey Moore. Both qualified through online testing. Tonkin’s fourth place came in Intro to FBLA. Moore qualified through an online test on Intro to Business Procedure.
A first-place winner involving in-person competition at the State Leadership Conference is composed of Kaylee Criner, Addison Grindo, and Natalie Rose. These three won first place in Broadcast Journalism, an event which takes careful planning and timing. Kaylee Criner explained the requirements and the group’s preparation.
The seven-minute broadcast had to have a story covering three topics which they chose from a list. The Braxton students chose the world—focusing on the pandemic, entertainment, and sports. The presentation had to be introduced live and contained interaction among the the three broadcasters.
Criner said that their covering the pandemic included a recorded Facetime interview with a German citizen concerning how regulations had affected people in that country. This section contained two different clips.
Their cover of entertainment involved social media TikTok as creator fund, something introduced only recently. Finally, their sports segment centered on Coach Sterling Beane, especially on his holding the record for the most dual match wrestling wins of any coach in West Virginia.
The group wrote up each story as it would be written for real newscasting, and each of the three group members introduced one section. Criner began with the pandemic, Rose introduced the entertainment section, and Grindo the local sports. Criner used PowerPoint to provide background for each segment as one would see on a real television broadcast.
In addition to those members who placed, Allie White tested in Business Communication, Braylee Robinson, Kaiden Perkins tested in Computer Application, and Emma Rose in Agri Business. Two others who competed but did not attend the State Leadership Conference were Olivia Ramsey and Matthias Garavaglia.
The national conference, Advisor Dennison explained, will include, in addition to new online tests for those going that route and live presentations for the Broadcast Journalism group, an opening ceremony, live presentations by various individuals, and sightseeing. Braxton’s advisor noted that Braxton has won very few national awards but she hopes to see some this time.
