By Shirley Shuman
On March 13-14, members of both the BCHS and BCMS Future Business Leaders of America attended the State Leadership Conference held at Marshall University. Students in both groups did well with many qualifying for the National Leadership Conference to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, this summer. Sarah Dennison advises the high school FBLA group, and Anita Lambert sponsors the middle school group.
Dennison commended her students on their efforts and resulting successes, as 10 of 14 of the high school attendees qualified for the national conference. The teacher explained that the students prepared well and were rewarded for that. She also commented on the upcoming conference. “The National Leadership Conference is always exciting to attend and a fun way to learn new things. And since I’m retiring this year, this will be the last time I get to attend one of these conferences with my students, and I will miss it,” she said. “The students worked very hard at creating and completing their projects and studying for their tests, and we are very excited about going to Atlanta to represent West Virginia and Braxton County High School.”
Three of Braxton’s qualifiers finished second in the state competition. Devin Brown’s second-place finish was in Computer Applications. Addison Grindo placed second in Job Interview, and Kaylee Criner in Public Speaking. Criner also qualified with fourth place in Political Science. The only third-place qualifier was Natalie Rose in Graphic Design.
Four finished fourth in their events. Kaden Kennen won fourth in Computer Problem Solving, while Kaiden Perkins and Braelyn Criner finished fourth in Public Service Announcement. Fourth place went to James Johnson and Robert Myers in Social Media Strategies. In Word Processing, Melody Jarrell placed fourth. Also competing were Wyatt Dennison and William Keenan in Computer Problem Solving, Cooper Belknap in Impromptu Speaking, and Emma Rose in Public Speaking.
Middle-school adviser Anita Lambert explained that FBLA is a new Career and Technical student organization at the middle school. “State competition was a new experience for all of the students,” she said. “I’m extremely proud that they stepped outside of their comfort zone to try something new.”
A total of 12 first-place finishes belonged to Braxton’s middle-school students as 13 of the 14 who attended qualified. Riley Miller placed first in Business Etiquette and Exploring Economics, Bayleah Orr in Career Exploration and Career Research, Mason Sligar in Digital Citizenship and Elevator Speech, Lilly Hines in Exploring Community Science, Owen Belknap in Exploring Technology, Joslynn Wittner-Napier in Financial Literacy, Liam Bell in Interpersonal Communication, Alexis DeHaven in Leadership, Hayden Brown in Learning Strategies, and Emily Whitney in Running an Effective Meeting.
The following students also qualified:
Career Explorations: Hayden Brown, 2nd; Tyler Marsh,3rd; Alexis Sartin 2nd
Digital Citizenship: Alexis Sartin, 2nd, Mackinzey Anderson 3rd, Madison Bennett 4th
Elevator Speech: Liam Beall, 2nd
Interpersonal Communication: Alexis DeHaven 2nd
Leadership: Mackinzey Anderson 2nd
Marketing Mix Challenge: Madison Bennett/Emily Whitney 2nd
Students attending the National Conference in Atlanta will do much more than compete. Advisor Dennison explained they will attend various workshops and browse through all the different vendors. She said, “They are also making plans to do some activities in Atlanta by either going to the Atlanta Aquarium, the Zoo, or 6 Flags Amusement Park or an Atlanta Braves baseball game.”
