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Four graduating seniors from American Heritage School competed at the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) National Leadership Conference in Chicago and placed 1st and 6th in the nation. In the Sports & Entertainment Management category, Victor Pires, Connor Kickhoefer,and Ean Schwartz won 1st place.
The students first had to take a written test; they were one of 15 teams who scored the highest on the exam, which qualified them for the finals and entailed a verbal presentation. They then were given a topic and had only 20 minutes to come up with a plan and present it to a panel of judges.
“Opportunities such as FBLA have exposed me to the business world in ways that most schools couldn't.” said Ean Schwartz, who will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall pursuing a minor in the Ross Business School while majoring in biology. “Little did I know that two of my best friends from high school and I would be national champions after graduating,” he added.
Philip Vitus, also an AHS Class of 2015 graduate, earned 6th Place in the Computer Problem Solving category. He is going to be studying linguistics and computer sciences at Florida State University in the fall.
FBLA is a club at American Heritage offered to all junior high and high school students. With 50 active members, they not only participate in the state and national FBLA competitions, they also operate a school store, and they host guest speakers throughout the year who share their experiences in today’s business world.
“The students run everything themselves,” said Marc Shaw, the FBLA Club Advisor. “They do their own research for the competitions, and they own a successful store that’s open everyday in the morning and during lunch. They hire and train the staff, set the hours, buy the supplies, and promote the store; they really learn what it’s like to be an entrepreneur and run a business,” he said.