Sayreville, NJ —
More than 10,000 of America’s best and brightest high school students took advantage of the World of Opportunity provided by the world’s largest student career business organization, through competing at the first-ever Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National Leadership Experience.
Showing the resiliency of the nation’s future business leaders, FBLA was successfully able to transition its annual National Leadership Conference, which was supposed to be held in Salt Lake City, to a virtual format in the face
of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The conference was held from June 29 to July 2, with national awards being announced in a special edition of FBLA’s national newsletter on June 15. Participants from across the United States and abroad attended this exciting conference to enhance their business skills, expand their networks, and participate in more than 70 business and business-related competitive events.
Ojas Chitnis and Neev Mistry, both rising seniors at Sayreville War Memorial High School, received recognition for their performance in Business Financial Plan, where they took home 3rd place nationally. Business Financial Plan tasks students with establishing and developing a complete financial plan for a business venture. The award was part of a comprehensive national competitive events program sponsored by FBLA that recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas.
The Sayreville War Memorial High School chapter, one of the largest and most active in the nation, received numerous chapter awards. The chapter was awarded the Chapter Challenge Award, a contest which encourages local chapter recruitment and membership involvement, the Outstanding Chapter Award, an award recognizing community service and education activities, and the Hollis and Kitty Guy Gold Seal Chapter Award of Merit, the association’s most prestigious chapter award.
Martha Iwinski, 2019-2020 chapter President who will be attending Rutgers University in the fall, said that she was “immensely proud of the work of the entire chapter and the Executive Board. This year SWMHS FBLA created a World of Opportunity for its members, leading them to achieve success at the local, state, and national level”.
Several members also earned individual national recognition. Ojas Chitnis was recognized with the America level of the Business Achievement Awards, FBLA’s national leadership development program. Ojas Chitnis and Minal Patel, also a rising senior, were recognized with the Achievement level of the Community Service Awards, a program which recognizes members who contribute more than 500 hours of voluntary community service.
More than 60 SWMHS FBLA members advanced from state competition to the national conference, the most in chapter history. Many members also received recognition on the state level, with the chapter electing its first – ever state officers. Krina Patel, a rising Senior, was elected as the State Historian and Ojas Chitnis was appointed as the State Parliamentarian.
Chapter Adviser, Christopher Howard, a humanities teacher at Sayreville War Memorial High School, said that he was “impressed by the extraordinary dedication and talent displayed by SWMHS FBLA members throughout the year”. He also said that “FBLA is an incredible organization which equips our students with the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace, many of which cannot be taught in the classroom setting”.
In addition to competitions, students immersed themselves in interactive virtual workshops, heard from motivational speakers on a broad range of business topics, and participated in numerous networking, skill – building, and career development programs over the four-day conference.