Kaskaskia College Students Win 9th Place at FBLA National Leadership Conference

Students from Kaskaskia College won top prizes at the Future Business Leaders of America, Inc.'s (FBLA) National Leadership Conference (NLC). From June 24 to July 2, the event in Orlando, Florida, attracted more than 18,000 middle school, high school, and college students, educators, and volunteers nationwide. The NLC provides education, competition, and networking opportunities centered on business.

More than 12,000 students from nearly 2,100 schools in 43 U.S. states and territories and two countries competed in over 100 business-related events for cash prizes totaling over $120,000. Students also had the opportunity to engage in over 200 learning workshops and meet with representatives from more than 100 colleges, universities, and employers, including CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP), FICO, Fidelity, McGraw Hill, Mens Wearhouse, National Geographic Learning/Cengage, the National Retail Federation, PNC Bank, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Coast Guard.

Gorick Ng, a Wall Street Journal bestselling author and Harvard University career adviser, offered tips to collegiate members on how to start their careers successfully.

At the collegiate level, Madison Johnson (Vandalia), Isabelle Highfield (Patoka), and Tyson Thompson (Okawville) competed as a team in the Emerging Business Issues category. They placed 9th in the nation. Madison Johnson also completed the Business Presentation category and was placed in the top 15 in the country. Highfield and Thompson also competed in the objective testing for Retail Management and Entrepreneurship.