The Future Business Leaders of America clubs from Champaign Central and Centennial high schools are set to head to California at the end of this month for the group’s National Leadership Conference.
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CHAMPAIGN — Two Champaign high schools will be represented at the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference this year, where they’ll compete in all kinds of events using their business and marketing savvy.
“Not everybody that is a part of FBLA competes, but that is the best part of it,” said Eric Fagerlin, a teacher at Central High School. “That’s where the kids see the most growth in themselves.”
He and fellow Central teacher Farrah Tuttle will join forces with Eric Springer, a teacher at Centennial High School, to take both schools’ groups all the way to California this week for the national conference.
“Our chapters are growing here in Champaign so much, and when you get (to the conference), it just blows you away how many people there are,” Springer said.
The teachers will have a chance to meet up with folks in similar positions nationwide and swap ideas, but the real focus of the trip is, of course, their students.
Some will compete in roleplay events, like Centennial student Nathalee Abad, who says Quizlet is coming in handy prepping to handle situations in sports and entertainment management.
She’ll also get a real-life example of the output of that line of work when the group takes some free time to attend a Los Angeles Angels game.
Priyam Banerjee, another Centennial student, is competing in a similar roleplay event for entrepreneurship.
Once he gets his prompt, he’ll have 20 minutes to prep for a seven-minute presentation.
“To prepare, I looked at my comments from judges at state and I found a lot of videos online about other people and their roleplays,” Banerjee said.
Many of the other students are participating in group events.
Matthew Philip and Sohum Gurrapu from Central have been working on a presentation about their partnership with a real business from India.
“Before our project, we had a little passion project going on, and it just really fit in for our chapter,” Philip said. “It’s basically a project where the whole chapter collaborates with a business for the local community.”
Safa Thameem and Kennedy Borden from Centennial are partnering on a “Public Service Announcement” project that led them to put together a 30-second video on healthy workplace habits.
Thameem said she suggested it to the other members of her group because she enjoys acting and video editing and the prompt stood out.
“I thought it would be really fun to do, and it was! We ended up getting fourth place at state,” she said.
Hannah Libman and Aanya Rangaiahgari worked together on a social-media campaign to promote a nonprofit organization.
“To prepare, me and my partner have been reviewing the comments that we got from state and then practicing a lot with our advisers and local business leaders,” Libman said. “It’s been really nice to hear their perspectives and take that into account.”
With such a wide variety of competitions, the whole group will have plenty to do at the conference, not to mention all of the educational and social events involved.
Borden said those social aspects are one of the things she’s looking forward to most.
“I’m really excited to network,” Borden said. “Last year, I had a lot of fun because we got to meet people from all across the country. The better weather will be really good, too.”
Gurrapu agrees, and is happy for the chance to travel.
“I honestly don’t get out of Illinois that much, and I feel like all these states, all these people combined, it’s going to be a really cool experience,” he said.
Rangaiahgari, who placed in the top ten at last year’s conference, is most looking forward to the awards show.
“I remember how fun it was last year, and I didn’t feel that confident. … I was like, ‘OK, let’s get this over with,’” she said. “When I saw my name on the board of top ten, that was the best feeling ever.”
The group has been working hard to raise funds for the around $1,500 in travel costs for each member and is still looking to partner with any local businesses who are interested in sponsoring them going forward.
Any final funds before they head out for Sunday’s start of the conference will be appreciated, but the teachers leading the group say that they’re already planning ahead for future events as well.