by Melissa Li
Williamsville East once again hosted one of the biggest FBLA district meetings of the year! The FBLA District 12 Spring District Meeting (SDM) was held at East on Saturday, January 24th from 12-3:30PM. Dozens of FBLA members from across the Western New York region gathered for an afternoon of competitive events, workshops, and a closing awards session.
Conducted by the district’s State Vice President, Melissa Li, the Spring District Meeting is important because it’s the site of district elimination events, preliminary competitions for students who wish to compete at the State Leadership Conference. Students tested their skills against district peers in events like Impromptu Speaking, Client Service, Job Interview, Public Speaking, and more. These performance events were judged on-site, and top scorers will move onto the state competition! On top of elimination events, District 12 exclusively offered a number of local written exams at the Spring District meeting that students could take as practice for the state level. These exams included tests for Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Economics, and Personal Finance. It was highly recommended that FBLA students in these events attend SDM for a taste of competitive experience. Local written exams were graded, but scores did not count towards States eligibility or placings. Congratulations to the following students who placed at SDM: Jenny Tu (1st place) – Entrepreneurship, Melanie Ulrich (1st place) – Client Service, Colby Yu (1st place) – Public Speaking I, Johnny DeJohn (1st place) – Public Speaking II, Johnny DeJohn (1st place) – Sports Management, Abinav Balu (1st place) – Introduction to Business, Nina Pieri (1st place) – Economics, Ani Nrushima (1st place) – Job Interview, Chris Winiecki (2nd place) – Impromptu Speaking, Michelle Dao (1st place) – Youth Leadership, Personal Finance (1st place) – Shubhangi Mehra, Sarina Divan (1st place) – Basic Decision Making.
Additionally, four Williamsville East students (Shubhangi Mehra, Aniruddha Nrusimha, Sarah Wie, and Leena Sen) took the State Officer Exam at SDM to begin their long road as candidates for a NYS FBLA state officer position. We wish them all luck!
If you are an FBLA student who plans on competing at States, please stay tuned for more news on our upcoming workshop on how to survive the state competition!
