Student Success at 2019 PBL National Leadership Conference

Students of Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, or PBL, had an excellent turnout as they competed at the 2019 National Leadership Conference over June 24-27 in San Antonio, Texas.

The four-day FBLA-PBL national conference helps students prepare for careers in business and technology by focusing on academic competitions and leadership development and also provides a great place for students to network.

Associate Professor and Department Chair of Business Administration, Dr. Sara Hitch, Dean of Business and Technology, Davin Winger, and Accounting Instructor/Department Chair of Accounting, Robyn Harris, accompanied fourteen students to the conference, and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Julie Dinger, also made the trip to cheer them on.

“It was an absolute privilege to join our students and advisors for the Awards of Excellence Program in San Antonio,” said Dr. Dinger, “I am so impressed by the work our advisors and students put in to compete effectively at the state and national level. The OPSU PBL Chapter continues to set the bar when it comes to excellence.”

Students from Panhandle State placed in the Top 10 in six different events throughout the conference. Earning 5^th place in the Social Media Challenge was the team of Lupita Jimenez, Amanda Blanton and Kaley Conner. Conner also took 6^th place in Business Communications. Taking 8^th in the category of Network Designs was the team of Cameron Branch and Hayden Ukens. Branch also placed 10^th in Networking Concepts. Jasmine Puebla took 9^th place in Financial Concepts, and the team of Puebla and John Polston placed 9^th in Financial Services.

Dr. Sara Hitch commented, “This was one of the younger groups we’ve taken to NLC. In fact, of our 14 participants, only 1 had attended NLC previously (last year). We were so incredibly proud of all of their achievements. We also are very excited for the upcoming years as most will be able to qualify again next year.”

The full list of participating students and their events is listed below.

Accounting Analysis and Decision Making: Team of Jerriena Davis, Shalom Ngalaba, and Jamie O’Gorman

Administrative Technology: Melody Ethley and Hayden Ukens

Business Communications: Kaley Conner

Business Ethics: Firas Ghazouani

Business Presentation: Team of Esmeralda Castro, Jerriena Davis, and Jamie O’Gorman

Cyber Security: Jorge Rosas

Financial Concepts: John Polston and Jasmine Puebla

Financial Services: Team of John Polston and Jasmine Puebla

Impromptu Speaking: Jorge Rosas

Macroeconomics: Lupita Jimenez

Management Concepts: Shalom Ngalaba

Marketing Concepts: Esmeralda Castro

Network Design: Team of Cameron Branch and Hayden Ukens

Networking Concepts: Cameron Branch

Programming Concepts: Amanda Blanton

Public Speaking: Melody Ethley

Social Media Challenge: Team of Amanda Blanton, Lupita Jimenez, and Kaley Conner

Statistical Analysis: Firas Ghazouani