by Amanda Kovac |

When growing up, children have dreams of becoming president or an athlete and in a few cases, a strong business owner. Future Business Leaders of America, (FBLA) teaches students about the economic and social world of business. It gives them strong leadership abilities and a boost on a college application.

The club has all the tools needed to prepare students for leadership positions in corporate careers. It takes students beyond the strategies and customer service knowledge they receive and gives them practice in the field.

The competitions can be done in a presentation or can be taken online. The competitions cover categories such as accounting, advertising, desktop publishing, and job interviews. Each student chooses the category they would like to compete in and each meeting is spent prepping. This year, the club is hoping to send students to the state competition in Columbia again.

“It’s not that big of a time commitment. It’s once a month and with my athletics ending soon I’ll have some free time,” junior Kyle Gabrieson.

“I like the big meeting that we have at competitions. That’s when the oral part of the competition takes place if you’re in one of those. There’s other people from  different districts getting together and it’s just a lot of fun,” senior Shelby Mann said.

Meeting time is also used to prepare business presentations for competing. Students, such as junior Kayla Ford and Gabrielson, who joined this year, are also saying they are excited for the competitions.

“[My favorite part is] my friends, and the events,  because  we can all go together,” Ford said.

Three years ago, Personal Finance and International Business teacher Sara Wyatt became the sponsor.

“When I took over FBLA a few years ago we had about nine or 10 people in it and last year I think we had 13 or 14,” Wyatt said. This year FBLA has about 15 students interested in learning the ins and outs of business.

FBLA is a nationally known club, which makes it look great on a college application or resume. The club also teaches good leadership qualities, giving unlimited benefits when it comes to the work field.

FBLA has been a national club since 1937. They meet about once a month to practice for competitions. The meetings are held in room 700, Wyatt’s classroom, in the morning. The meeting times and dates vary.

FBLA is the future for those students who dream of one day entering the business world.