Seward High School FBLA Scores Well at State Leadership Conference

April 16, 2018

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Thirty members of the Seward High School FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) chapter attended the FBLA state leadership conference April 5th-7th in Omaha at the Coco Keys Convention Center.  

While at the conference, members attended workshops, listened to speakers from the business world, and competed in a variety of business related competitions. More than 2,500 students from around the state competed at the conference representing over 125 schools. The Seward chapter was recognized for its commitment to Nebraska FBLA sponsored community service and business enrichment projects by receiving ribbon awards for the completion of state projects in the areas of Go Green, iGive, March of Dimes donations, Nebraska FBLA Foundation donations, Step Up To Technology, Connect with Business, and for being a Sweepstakes Award winning chapter. Chapter President Amelia Hanson was recognized as a “Who’s Who” of Nebraska FBLA recipient, and chapter secretary Riley Nuttleman earned both the top level Community Service Award and the Leader Level Business Achievement Award. 

Seward FBLA had 14 members qualify for the national convention which will be held June 27-July 2nd in Baltimore, Maryland by placing in the top 3 of their events at the state conference. Members who placed in the top 8 in events were recognized this past Saturday at the Awards Ceremony, Seward won 28 different awards in either team or individual events which was also the most of any school at the conference.  Seward also had several members earn honorable mention certificates for placing in the top 4% but not finishing in the top 8 places.  

The Seward chapter was very well represented in team presentation events as the team of Garrett Kuss, Brady Smith, and Jack Yelden took 4th in Banking and Financial Systems. Yelden and Kuss also teamed up with Ryan Wall to earn 5th place in Management Decision Making. Yelden, along with Chase Prochnow and Alec Sackschewsky placed 2nd in the Network Design contest.  Gracie Seevers and Sarah Kelle earned 3rd place in the Entrepreneurship event and the duo teamed up with Natalie Sloup to win 8th place in Social Media Campaign.  Audrey Schanou and Evan Nottingham teamed up to write and present a 15 page business financial plan which took 3rd place. Schanou also teamed with David Ideus to earn 5th place in the Business Ethics Presentation.  Austin Dobrusky and Chris Galusha earned 3rd place in the Website Design contest while Ryan Wall and Clint Koetter teamed together for 8th place in Global Business.  Sophomores Taylor Fitzke and Cordell Vrbka placed 6th in the Intro to Business Presentation event.  

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In individual performance events the Seward Chapter also fared extremely well. Amelia Hanson was the state champion in Client Service and Cordell Vrbka place 5th in Public Speaking. Jarod Harris also earned an honorable mention in Impromptu Speaking.

Seward was also recognized 18 times for placing in the top 8 in individual objective events.  The senior class led the way with Chris Galusha placing 1st in Computer Problem Solving, 2nd in Cyber Security, and 5th in Networking Concepts. Chase Prochnow placed 4th in Cyber Security, 5th in Computer Problem Solving, and 6th in Networking Concepts. Evan Nottingham was 6th in Word Processing and Clint Koetter was also 4th in an accounting event with 370 participants. The junior class also was well represented with Garrett Kuss earning 3rd in Agribusiness, Jack Yelden placing 2nd in Business Law, and Ryan Wall placing 2nd in Insurance and Risk Management.  The sophomores were led by Jarod Harris who was 1st in Intro to Business, 3rd in Financial Math, and 3rd in Intro to Business Procedures. Austin Dobrusky also finished 2nd in the Information Technology Applications event.  Freshmen Emma Kuss also was a national qualifier, placing 3rd in the Intro to Parliamentary Procedures Event. 

Students who earned honorable mention in their events included Kiernan Baker and Colton Hill in Emerging Business Issues, Austin Dobrusky in Computer Problem Solving, Jack Yelden in Business Calculations, Audrey Schanou in Insurance and Risk Management, Colton Hill in Intro to Business Procedures, Cordell Vrbka in Financial Math, Evan Nottingham in Personal Finance, and Chase Prochnow in 3-D Animation.  

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