Battle of the Chapters winners Megan Misner, Colby Qualls and Amber Rolland
ANA MEZA – Hoof Prints Staff
On Thursday, Sep. 24, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) attended the District II Fall Leadership Conference at Southwest Church of Christ in Jonesboro. Out of 37 total FBLA members, 35 were present along with adviser, Mrs. Monda Hutchison. The Fall Leadership Conference is held yearly to inform members of the latest local achievements and upcoming events. It also informs members of the FBLA theme for the year; this year’s theme is “Simply the Best.”
The Fall Conference also hosts the District II Battle of the Chapters, which is like an FBLA quiz bowl based on FBLA trivia. Each team consists of three students, and each student is asked a question over general FBLA. Students are eliminated if they answer incorrectly and a different team gets the answer right. The winning team is the team with the last standing representative.
Colby Qualls, Megan Misner, and Amber Rolland were part of the winning team. They competed against six other chapters and placed first after Qualls answered the last question correctly. “The answer I gave wasn’t even right, but they said ‘correct’ so yay for us,” said Qualls. Winning the District II Battle of the Chapters sends the team to the state competition in the spring.
The keynote speaker at the conference was Shannon Pickard, nationally known youth motivational speaker. He is the acclaimed author of the top-selling book The Choice Is Yours: A Formula For Success. He is also an improv comedian and shared three tips with the students on how to become a comedian that would also help them in their path to success.
The “Yes.. And” principle was his first tip and consists of students saying yes, and then giving their best. Also, Pickard shared that students should practice looking stupid in front of a mirror so that they would not be afraid of looking stupid in front of everyone else. Lastly, Pickard emphasized that students should not be afraid to fail at what they attempt.
Representatives from March of Dimes, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Make-a-Wish and ARORA were also present at the Fall Conference. Each representative announced the amount of money that was raised from fundraisers and applauded FBLA for their hard work and dedication to the different causes.
A special meeting was conducted to encourage current sophomore and junior students to run for district office. Each school is allowed to have one officer with the exception of parliamentarian. The district parliamentarian will be the student with the highest score on the parliamentary procedures FBLA event.
Currently, Micah Thompson, Josh Freeman, and Jeffery Allan plan to participate in the procedures event. Based on their scores, Thompson and Allan may be eligible to become parliamentarian. Colby Qualls has shown interest in an officer position as well. He plans to run for district vice-president for the 2010-2011 school year.
As a relief from listening to financial reports, FBLA members were given a chance to play a game. Upon arriving, several students were given a pink card; this card marked the students as participants in the game, “Screaming Viking.” The chosen members were asked to stand in a circle while one person stood in the middle. The person in the middle would choose someone from the circle and say “screaming viking.” The chosen person would then have to scream like a viking while the two people to the side “rowed the boat.” The student in the middle also had the choice of saying “Chi-a pet” and “Jell-O” If Chi-a pet was called, the chosen person and two people to the side would “grow” like a chi-a pet and if “Jell-O” was called, the chosen person would have to wiggle like Jell-O while the two people to the side made a bowl around them. The game was organized by a district officer.
Students were dismissed at 1 p.m. and many proceeded to the Mall at Turtle Creek to grab a bite to eat. Several discounts were offered to those who attended the conference.
