Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is a student-run organization looking to introduce business and leadership concepts. The current advisors are Ms. Kirsten Viera and Mr. Jeremie Palko.
This club is geared toward students interested in business. There are also other activities such as competitions which can be based on different topics.
“I would say [students] should join if they love business and also just want to get to know people,” said James Zamudio (‘24).
FBLA meets once a month in Ms. Viera’s room to discuss the school store, plans with the budget, conferences, competitions, and charities. In FBLA, most activities for the club are outside of school besides the meetings.
Charities are mandatory each year. FBLA donated to the Bee Conservatory this previous year.
Within conferences are districts typically held at Longmont High School. Conferences contain a list of events students can choose from, ranging from tests, presentations, and role plays all related to business. The content within the events is not directly taught in FBLA, though students absorb business knowledge with time in the club.
For the events, studying different areas of business or anything related to the chosen event is done on student terms apart from FBLA. If a student is successful in districts they move forward to state competition, held in Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center, and nationals follow afterwards.
When looking to join FBLA, Caleb Luedke (‘25) found that enrolling in a business course offered at Mead High had helped him in becoming familiar with business and the conferences. Luedke progressed his way to nationals in FBLA, a great achievement of his.
There are a few position options in FBLA. The officials include president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and a public relations officer. Other members remaining are not in office.
The president this year is Chase Nicks (‘24). She runs meetings, organizes agendas, and works with Ms. Viera and her peers to complete goals. Often with Nicks’s commitment to the club, she leaves class early at the end of the day to work for the school store. Nicks also ensures her peers are informed and receive their schedule for working the store.
This year’s treasurers Caleb Luedke and Russell Checketts (‘25). As treasurers, their job is to manage money, specifically the school store’s money. During meetings, they inform everyone of the organization’s budget. Collectively, FBLA members decide where their spending will go.
The vice president assists the president in any shape or form and fills in when the president is unavailable. This year’s vice president is James Zamudio. He decided to join FBLA due to his interest in business and some persuasion from Nicks.
Zamudio said that the people make FBLA so special. “Our first two years [were] a small chapter. It was just a lot of fun to get to know each other. We all became really good friends,” he said.
Through various events, FBLA members are given lots of opportunities to connect and meet students attending other schools.
Nicks said, “I love getting to travel with the group, do our events, hang out, and get to know everybody. We spend a lot of time together when we’re competing and traveling, and I just love the interactivity of it all.”
