Leadership excellence

Westosha Central High School students Mikayla Chon (from left), Tyler Stone and Karli Cox are planning to compete as a team in the State Leadership Conference in 3-D animation competition. The trio finished fourth in graphic design at the regional competition.
Westosha Central High School students Mikayla Chon (from left), Tyler Stone and Karli Cox are planning to compete as a team in the State Leadership Conference in 3-D animation competition. The trio finished fourth in graphic design at the regional competition.

Westosha Central has a dozen FBLA state qualifiers

By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer

A dozen Westosha Central students qualified for the Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference in La Crosse, after finishing among the top three in several events at the regional competition held Feb. 6.

According to Jessica Petersen, Westosha Central’s FBLA advisor, it is a marked improvement from last year.

“We had the best turnout this year than in years past,” said Petersen, who is the school’s business and information technology teacher.

Along with the FBLA, the school has combined DECA to form the Association of Business Students and all students are nationally registered in each organization.

The students en route to the April 11 and 12 competition can qualify for the National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, at the end of June.

Last year, Maddie and Travis Artac, along with Leslie Abel advanced to the national competition, which was held in Chicago.

Travis Artac, who is the FBLA president, finished third with Seth Seybert in the Global Business team event and has demonstrated the most improvement, Petersen said.

“(He) has been involved with FBLA since his freshman year,” Petersen said. “He has come a long way since then and demonstrates quality leadership to the chapter and our state.”

The students are among more than 1,000 attending the state competition, which also offers business tours, leadership workshops and the future fair.

“You go into a room with 30 or 40 other individuals and you really have to bring it to the table to make it to nationals,” Travis Artac said.

Workshops include, What is Supply Chain Management?, The Business of Baseball, Business World, and Reverse Engineering Your Story.

Additionally, networking with other FBLA members is another essential element to the state competition, Petersen said.

Travis Artac agreed, stating networking gives him an opportunity to learn new skills.

“My favorite part is meeting all the new people and network(ing). Business is what I really want to get into,” he said.

Central students advancing to state are Adriannah Sherwood, first, Client Services; Eddie Korando, first, Economics; John Dietz, second, Personal Finance; Jordan Migawa, third, Help Desk; freshman Anna Platz, third, Future Business Leader; Felix Desimoni, third, Securities and Investments; Seth Seybert and Travis Artac, third, Global Business team event; Brad Gilmore, third, Public Service Announcement; Jonathan Hahn, third, Publication Design; Julia Ziemelis and Graham Andrews, third, Website Design.

Furthermore, the school is sending four students to the state-only competition in both team 3-D animation and American Enterprise Project.

The 3-D animation team consists of Mikayla Chon, Karli Cox and Tyler Stone. Chris Hill is presenting the American Enterprise Project with a focus on the school store, the Falcon’s Nest.

Petersen said the state-only contests are difficult, citing statewide curriculums, and only allows students that narrowly miss the top three at regionals to enter.

“State-only events are a lot tougher in my opinion because there are not a lot of high-school courses that prepare the knowledge needed so students have to teach themselves and utilize other resources,” she said.

The trio finished fourth in Graphic Design and Hill placed seventh in Securities and Investments at regionals.

Travis Artac said FBLA and DECA are not just social organizations, but a club that requires intensive work.

“You really have to be determined to get to the next level,” he said.


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