Marissa Rock

As many people know, the Phoenixville Area High School FBLA club has been very successful the past four years. The club is advised by Mrs. Jenkins who has always worked very hard bringing FBLA its success. The purpose of this club is to bring business and education together while building leadership skills, holding fundraisers, and helping out the community. FBLA also includes competitive events in which every member has the opportunity to participate.

This year, Phoenixville High School’s FBLA had seven members who qualified and participated in the state competitions from March 30-April 1 in Hershey. The competitions are based on business courses or skills needed in the business world. There are many different events and students have their choice of which one to compete in. Public Speaking, Accounting, and Desktop Publishing are a few examples. To qualify for states, the competitors had to place in the top three (or four, depending on the event) at the regional level. The majority of the events required the competitors to take a written test and/or be interviewed. The competitions are more difficult than one might imagine because when students take written tests or sit through a nerve-wracking interview, they are also going up against all the other FBLA competitors in the state.

The participants in this year’s competitors and events were Brynna Labik- Accounting I, Alex Kray- Business Calculations, Tyler Lutz- Sports Marketing, Matt Peeling- Accounting II, Nick Rabena- Computer Applications, John Bozzelli- Accounting II, Marissa Rock- Ms. Future Business Leader.

Out of the seven students who participated, three of our students placed in the state’s top ten! Alex Kray placed fifth for his event, Nick Rabena placed tenth and Marissa Rock placed eighth. Congratulations to all of the participants!

Another FBLA success from this year was the Poverty Project. Our high school collected many toiletries that benefitted the Phoenixville Area Community Services. They were very pleased with the outcome and thankful for everyone who donated.

Our high school’s P-Mart store is also an accomplishment of FBLA. FBLA members sell snacks, candy, drinks, and other items that the cafeteria does not. The store is open Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunches… so if you don’t want to stand in a line and enter a pin code every day, stop by P-Mart and buy something to benefit FBLA!

An exciting upcoming event is the FBLA has been the Dodgeball Tournament. This year’s tournament is on April 30th. Tickets are being sold at all lunches starting the week of April 20th, so bring in your money and get a Dodgeball team together to compete for the title of this year’s Dodgeball champions!

Overall, the Future Business Leaders of America is a very prestigious and well-known club. Therefore, being involved in FBLA looks excellent on college transcripts. Even if you’re not interested in going into business, you will learn important skills and find being a member very beneficial. So if you’re thinking about joining, see Mrs. Jenkins. You’ll have a great time and learn a lot in the process.