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Heartland FBLA Attends State Leadership Conference

Heartland FBLA.

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Heartland FBLA.

Heartland FBLA students attended the Nebraska Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference in Omaha on March 29-31, 2007.  Over 1,800 students and advisers attended the three-day conference.  Heartland students earned 25 awards at this event.  The students attending the conference were:  (Seniors) Justine Erb; (Juniors) Lauren Braun, MacKenzie Dick, Lauren Klute, Erica Lundstrom, Jessica Quiring, and Tyler Ratzlaff; (Sophomores) Michelle Barr, Quint Geis, Christianne Kroeker, Clint Kroeker, Brianna Rader, Tiffanie Squire, Whitney Steingard, and Amanda Wall; (Freshmen) Laini Aiken, Crista Buller, Jennifer Goossen, Randian Spencer, and Katie Wilhelm.  Also attending was adviser Kristy Most.

The keynote speaker of the Opening General Session was Craig Hillier.  He motivated the audience with his fun, up-beat interactive presentation about how to develop the leader within.  Participants also had the opportunity to listen to campaign speeches from the 11 candidates for State Office.

Thursday and Friday were filled with competitive events ranging from Business Law and Accounting II to Business Communications and Word Processing, plus many more.  Ten seminars covering topics such as choosing a career and serving others, demands of leadership, clever criminals:  scams, fraud and theft online and elsewhere, careerlink.com, the fight to be fit, and first-year college jitters were presented while the State Officer candidates were actively campaigning for office.  The Formal Caucus to question the candidates took place Thursday night, and the Second General Session was held Friday evening.  By that time, nearly all events had been completed, the votes for State Officers were in, and the final results were being tallied.

Saturday morning was the time of truth as the winners were revealed--not only for State Office but also for qualifying for the National Leadership Conference to be held in Chicago.  Only the top two or three from each event earn the honor to compete on the national level, which is a great accomplishment.  Other highlights during the Awards Program were the farewells of the retiring officers and the installation of the 2007-08 State Officer Team. 

FBLA is a professional organization with an emphasis on business and leadership.  Nebraska has over 5,000 members in more than 130 chapters all across the state.

Students earning awards were:  Justine Erb - 8^th Future Business Leader, Honorable Mention Economics; Lauren Klute - 1^st Accounting II, 1^st Word Processing II, Honorable Mention Business Procedures; Lauren Braun - 1^st Business Law, 6^th Entrepreneurship Team, Honorable Mention Business Procedures, Honorable Mention Marketing; MacKenzie Dick - 5^th Accounting II; Tyler Ratzlaff - Honorable Mention Accounting II; Brianna Rader - 8^th Accounting I, Honorable Mention Business Math, Honorable Mention Spelling, Honorable Mention Introduction to Business; Clint Kroeker - 6^th Entrepreneurship Team, 8^th Introduction to Business, Honorable Mention Accounting I; Michelle Barr - 6^th Entrepreneurship Team, Honorable Mention Introduction to Business; Whitney Steingard - 1^st Word Processing I; Amanda Wall - 2^nd Word Processing; Jennifer Goossen - 2^nd Word Processing I, Honorable Mention Proofreading; Crista Buller - Honorable Mention Introduction to Business.