PBL members recently traveled to State Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City. —Courtesy photo

May 9, 2018

Panhandle State Communications

PBL Represents at State Leadership Conference

Goodwell, Okla. — A total of 16 Oklahoma Panhandle State University students traveled to Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City on Friday, April 20 -Saturday, April 21 for the Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) State Leadership Conference. This year’s theme was Elevate Your Future and the Panhandle State students’ results were definitely elevated. The group finished with 15 State Championships (14 for student events; one for the chapter’s Local Chapter Annual Business Report); nine second-place finishes; and six third-place finishes.

State championships went to Aaron Hammett, Cameron Hammett, and Sarah Smith in Accounting Analysis and Decision Making; Sam Lemin in Accounting for Professionals, Jocelynn Avalos in Administrative Technologies, Ely Esquivel in Client Service; Cameron Hammett in Cost Accounting; Madilyn Rider in Desktop Publishing; Shane Truelove in Financial Services; Sam Lemin in Forensic Accounting; Ami Torres Acuna, Jocelynn Avalos, and Selina Gaucin in Management Analysis and Decision Making; Alexandra Garcia and Skylar Behne in Network Design; Alexandra Garcia in Network Concepts; Jorge Rosas in Public Speaking; and Ely Esquivel in Social Media Challenge.

Second-place finishes went to Sam Lemin and Madison Dearmin in Accounting Analysis and Decision Making; Madison Rider in Accounting for Professionals; Aaron Hammett in Cost Accounting; Skylar Behne in Cyber Security; Shane Truelove in Financial Analysis and Decision Making; Sarah Smith in Financial Concepts; Alexandra Garcia in Help Desk; Madilyn Rider in Information Management; and Ami Torres Acuna, Jocelynn Avalos, and Selina Gaucin in Small Business Management Plan.

Third-place finishes went to Alexandra Garcia in Cyber Security; Brian Martinez Impromptu Speaking; Skylar Behne in Network Concepts; Jorge Rosas in Programming Concepts; and Brian Martinez in Statistical Analysis.

In addition, Brian Martinez, a junior from Guymon, Okla. ran for state office, a process which was revised significantly from previous years. This year’s candidates filled out an application and completed an interview with the state staff prior to the conference starting. Additionally, candidates gave a campaign speech and answered a series of on-stage interview questions in front of all conference attendees. Once each chapter’s voting delegates had cast their ballots, Panhandle State’s Martinez was elected as the 2018-2019 Oklahoma FBLA-PBL Vice President of PBL.

Martinez, who was attending his third SLC had this to say about this year’s conference: “State Leadership Conference 2018 has definitely been the most memorable for me out of my three years in PBL. I am so glad I stepped even further out of my comfort zone this year by running for state office; it was not only challenging but also exciting to be elected. I’m also glad I qualified for Nationals in an event. There are no guarantees, as SLC is competitive, and I am glad to represent OPSU at Nationals for the third year in a row.”

PBL members now begin preparation for the National Leadership Conference and Competition in Baltimore, Md. June 23-26.

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda serves as an education association for middle school, junior high, high school and college students who are preparing for careers in business. In addition to the contests the students compete in, the aspiring business professionals get to attend workshops and network with peers and business industry leaders.

Dr. Sara Hitch serves as a faculty advisor for PBL and commented, “Panhandle PBL was so well represented at this year’s State Leadership Conference by the 16 students who attended. From the significant number of individual recognitions to multiple chapter recognitions, our chapter once again showed how dedicated and competitive they are! A new company has assumed the leadership of Oklahoma FBLA-PBL, and as a result, the contests were more competitive than they have been in years past. Our students rose to the challenge, as evidenced by their final award count. We couldn’t be prouder of them!”

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