By SVERRE BAKKE
The Enterprise
Columbia High students collected 14 first-place awards during individual and team competitions at a Future Business Leaders of America regional conference held Jan. 31 in Yakima.
All told, 19 CHS Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members earned 32 awards.
"At this year's regional conference, we did better than we ever have," said Jan Callow, who serves as adviser to Columbia's FBLA chapter.
CHS members Quinn Allen, Liz Reetz and Robin Swanhuyser each garnered two first-place awards.
Allen's awards came in the Business Ethics Team and Introduction to Technology Concepts competitions. Reetz won in the Parli Pro Team and Global Business categories. Swanhuyser received her awards in the Business Ethics and Business Graphics team competitions.
First-place awards also went to Forrest Cranmer, Parliamentary Procedures Team; Nicole Dunn, Accounting II; Lisa Gardner, Business Graphics Team; Erin Holwegner, Parli Pro Team; Caroline Kelly, Parliamentary Procedures Team; Tate Petersen, Parliamentary Procedures Team; Lisl Stadler, Impromptu Speaking; and Amanda Wanner, Business Ethics Team.
Students who placed in the top five in their competitions are eligible to compete at the state FBLA conference on April 5-7 in Spokane.
Top-five placers for Columbia High were:
Beau Bulick, 4th-Technology Concepts; Cranmer, 5th, Technology Concepts; Dunn, 3rd-Banking and Financial Systems, and 4th-Business Calculations;
Gardner, 2nd-Global Business, and 5th-Networking Concepts; Kati Gibson, 4th-Global Business; Lauren Kelly, 3rd-Business Procedures; Neal LaGrander, 3rd-Business Math;
Kristie Morris, 4th-Business Procedures; Katherine Mosbrucker, 2nd-Word Processing II, 2nd-Accounting II, and 3rd-Public Speaking II;
Petersen, 3rd-Introduction to Technology Concepts; Reetz, 5th-Economics; Stadler, 4th-Economics; Bo Ward, 4th-Banking and Financial Systems; and Courtney Whidden, 5th-FBLA Principles and Procedures.
According to Callow, the FBLA competitions are based on what a student knows (written tests featuring a variety of questions, from multiple choice to true/false), performance skills (public speaking, both from prepared texts and impromptu) and teamwork (problem solving, group dynamics).
Moreover, some of the individual events are limited to freshmen and sophomores, or to juniors and seniors.
For example, written objective tests such as Introduction to Technology Concepts and Business math are strictly for the underclassmen, while Technology Concepts and Business Calculations are for upperclassmen only.
"All written tests are timed for one hour," noted Callow. "My students can check out books on these topics from me to study prior to the competitions, and most of them do."
Word Processing, a performance event, is a two-part exam that, for placement purposes, combines the scores of a homesite test taken prior to the conference and an onsite test completed at the conference.
Team events include Business Graphics, Business Ethics and Parliamentary Procedures.
In Business Graphics, "two students are given a topic and have one hour to create a poster," explained Callow, whereas in Business Ethics, students are given "a case to resolve." Parliamentary Procedures, on the other hand, "is basically how to properly run a meeting."
Perhaps the most challenging of the individual competitions are the public speaking events (one for freshmen/sophomores, one for juniors/seniors and one open to all grades).
"These are performance events, three to five minutes long, where students give their speech before two judges," Callow said.
The Public Speaking addresses are prepared in advance and center on one or more of FBLA's goals.
Conversely, students who enter the Impromptu competition "are given a specific time for their event, at which time they receive a topic and have 10 minutes to prepare their presentation, and then they present it to the judges," Callow said.
Judging by what Columbia High students achieved at last month's FBLA regional conference, it's clear they know their business.
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