LOCAL BUSINESSES HELP FUTURE BUSINESS STARS SHINE AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Convention Center (From L to R): Thomas Beirne, Pamela Yukish, Alicia Colburn, Jayson Edmundson, and Steve Weidenbach.

When Pamela Yukish and Thomas Beirne were approached by their

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) adviser Laura Hilzendeger in February and asked to represent Fife High School as their Emerging Business Issues team they had no idea what they were getting into.

After the Winter Regional Conference in February both Beirne and Yukish did very well in Public Speaking competition, taking first and second, respectively. Public Speaking is a very large component of the Emerging Business Issues competition. Emerging Business Issues is a competition based upon current events where student teams must create an argument both for and against the topic. Before the competition, a coin is flipped to determine whether students will be presenting for or against the topic. This year's topic was whether Internet commerce should be taxed.

"When Ms. Hilzendeger approached me about being apart of the Emerging Business Issues team I had some reservations. Ms. Hilzendeger is very passionate about this event and Fife sent a team to Nationals two years ago. I knew that we could not do this event half way," Yukish said. They did not do this competition half-way, they placed third in the nation.

Convention Center (From L to R): Thomas Beirne, Pamela Yukish, Alicia Colburn, Jayson Edmundson, and Steve Weidenbach.

When Yukish and Beirne competed at the State Leadership Conference and placed first, Steve Weidenbach , FBLA Adviser, was not surprised by the students' success. "We were not surprised at all by these students' success. These are two of the most talented students I've ever met." After the state conference one of the largest challenges the students faced was funding for the National Leadership Conference held in Denver, Colorado .

Weidenbach and his four qualifying students Alicia Colburn, Jayson Edmundson, Pamela Yukish, and Thomas Beirne needed to raise nearly $4,000 to compete at Nationals. This is when they went to Milgard Manufacturing for help. "I don't think that we could have had a successful year this year without Milgard Manufacturing. That company definitely has a passion for the Tacoma community. Finances can be such an issue for educational fundraising, and a company like Milgard can really break down walls," Weidenbach stated.

Milgard Manufacturing was not the only organization to make the National Leadership Conference possible for the Fife students. Fife-Milton Rotary, Fife Kiwanis, and the Fife High School Booster Club also gave healthy donations. "I had an incredible experience at Nationals, and if these four organizations didn't step up and help us the way they did I could have never done it. We wouldn't have even had a chance to earn third place in the nation," Beirne commented.

The winners of these highly competitive and prestigious awards are selected from among FBLA-PBL 's membership of 250,000 students and advisers and represent some of the best and brightest of today's youth.

Third Place winners Thomas Beirne and Pamela Yukish pose with Washington FBLA's Executive Director Judy Reynolds after their successful competition.

The almost 7,000 delegates to the National Leadership Conference participated in a structured, four-day meeting for each division that included business and leadership training workshops and seminars, corporate tours, and the election of national officers.

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. (FBLA-PBL) is the national business education association that prepares students for careers in business and business education. Its members, belonging to more than 6,000 chartered chapters, include students from the United States , the Virgin Islands , Puerto Rico , and Europe . Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is the high school division and Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) is designed for post-secondary and college students. For membership information, contact the National FBLA- PBL Headquarters at 1-800-325-2946 .