THS FBLA sees two students qualify for nationals, two students qualify for state competition
Even before state competitions have taken place, Tullahoma High School sophomores Edward Henry and Jonah Rathjen Vallejos have already earned their tickets to the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference this summer.
FBLA partners with several educational programs to offer fall seasons, including LifeSmarts, which provides financial and consumer literacy through engaging competitions. The LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge is an event that begins online, and the 12 top-scoring teams from both the fall and spring advance to a live in-person competition at the National Leadership Conference. Henry and Rathjen Vallejos were included in the top 12 to advance to Nationals.
The online competition consists of two online quizzes, one on personal finance and the other on consumer rights. Each team then completes an individual 60-question quiz that covers personal finance and other LifeSmart topic areas.
“If anyone could prequalify for Nationals, it would be Edward and Jonah,” said THS FBLA Adviser Franklin Cammack. “I approached them about this event in September, and they both started to prepare to compete against students from across the country just a month later. Other students might have balked at that notion, but not these two. They accepted the challenge and proved that they could handle it. Edward can now focus on running for a State FBLA Officer position instead of event prep as we move into the State Leadership Conference.”
After qualifying for Nationals, Henry and Rathjen Vallejos will compete in a head-to-head quiz-bowl-style competition. The FBLA National Leadership Conference will take place in Anaheim, California, from June 29- July 2.
Tullahoma High School also saw two students qualify for the Tennessee Leadership Conference that takes place in Chattanooga on April 6-9. Ellie Simpson and Cambree Moyers earned their seats after participating in the Regional competition at Nissan Stadium in Nashville in November.
Last year’s competition was the first time Tennessee FBLA hosted an in-person regional event since January 2020. Only four of the over 100 events that FBLA has to offer took place at the region competition. Tullahoma participated in two regional events, as Simpson placed first in the Job Interview competition, and Moyers took second in Broadcast Journalism.
“Preparing for Regional events isn't something that we have had to do in a long time due to our reduction in numbers from COVID,” Cammack said. “Cambree and Ellie didn't know how this event would go, and they really had to prepare for it blindly. I couldn't have asked for anything more from them. They are amazing students, and I am so glad to be working with all of them again.”
As FBLA prepares for the State Leadership Conference, TCS Director of Schools, Dr. Catherine Stephens, offered her congratulations and well wishes.
“Our FBLA programs here in TCS are extraordinary,” Dr. Stephens said. “To already have two national and two state qualifiers is absolutely incredible. I cannot wait to see how the rest of our FBLA teams perform at the state competition and how well our students represent Tullahoma.”
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