Fulfilling the theme, “Soaring to New Heights,” were members of Eastern Oklahoma State College’s Phi Beta Lambda chapter as they won regional and national honors at this year’s National Leadership Conference in Dallas, TX. Future Business Leaders of America/Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA/PBL) is a professional association of students pursuing business careers. Attending the national conference were Cheryl Roberts, Wilburton; Kyle Rust and Ashley Smallwood, Hartshorne; Kristin Skipper, Daisy; Stephanie Edwards, Okemah; and co-advisors Estella Bennett-Mask, Linda Morgan and Harold Bogard.

Rust and Skipper placed second in the American Enterprise Project with a written report and oral presentation outlining a seminar about the use of credit cards by college students which was presented to Eastern students. Roberts placed fourth with the Local Chapter Annual Business Report. In addition, Roberts competed in Computer Applications, Smallwood in Word Processing, and Edwards in Leadership. More than 1,500 students from around the nation competed in 40 events representing a range of business, career, and leadership activities. Eastern students became eligible to compete at the national conference after placing in the top five at Oklahoma’s state conference in March. “We have spent many hours in practice and review preparing for this competition and we are very proud of our students’ accomplishments,” said co-advisor Bennett-Mask. Co-advisors Bennett-Mask and Morgan were honored at the conference for 15 years of service and Bogard was honored for 10 years of service.

The Eastern PBL Chapter also received the Gold Seal Chapter of Merit Award. “This award is given in recognition of outstanding achievements by a chapter during the year,” stated co-advisor Morgan. Additional chapter awards included first place at the national and regional levels for Local Recruitment of Chapters, second place at the regional level for recruitment of Professional Division members and the Gold Key Chapter Award.

Roberts and Rust were honored as Gold Key members and Smallwood as a Silver Key member for completing the activities identified in the Winners’ Circle recognition program. This program recognizes chapters and members who go above and beyond in their FBLA-PBL participation. The three also received awards for their participation in the Membership Madness program for recruiting five new members each.

Rust and Smallwood also attended the Institute for Leaders training, conducted two days prior to the beginning of the conference, graduating with honors. Rust went through an intense application process and received scholarships to attend the Institute for Leaders training and the National Leadership Conference. “I feel honored to have received the scholarships and the opportunity to attend the special leadership training,” said Rust. The scholarships were based upon demonstration of leadership skills, participation in Phi Beta Lambda and academic performance.

In addition to the competitive events, students and advisors attended career and motivational workshops and campaigned for and elected regional and national officers. Phi Beta Lambda, the postsecondary division of FBLA-PBL, Inc., has approximately 11,000 members in 461 chartered chapters. There are four levels of participation, middle school, high school, post-secondary, and professional.

Front row l-r: Stephanie Edwards, Kristin Skipper, Linda Morgan, Ashley Smallwood 2nd row: Kyle Rust, Harold Bogard, Estella Bennett-Mask, Cheryl Roberts