The Future Business Leaders of America organization at Miami Beach Senior High combines community service and business education to prepare students for the real world. Competing in such events as Public Speaking, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, and Global Business, FBLA members learn about the ethical, managerial and entrepreneurial skills necessary to one day run their own successful businesses.
However, FBLA does not merely teach its members accounting and marketing skills; three Beach High FBLA vice presidents are also in charge of initiating and executing service projects, which compete against similar projects at the State and National level each year. FBLA vice presidents carried out a number of successful service projects last year. As vice president, I led a committee of students in a project focused on nutrition and fitness with fellow VP Lyssa Goldberg. Partnering with such businesses as Whole Foods Market, Subway, Jamba Juice, and Noobie Games allowed us to hold a successful Health and Fitness expo at Nautilus Middle School, while simultaneously teaching FBLA members about business procedure through real-life experience. Another Vice President, Isabella Mongalo, taught kids about career opportunities through a trip to Wannado City and a booth at the Miami Beach Educational Expo last year. Both projects placed within the top three at the State Leadership Conference in Orlando, and therefore went on to compete at Nationals in Nashville.
This year’s vice presidents will be engaging in a new round of service projects. Jordan Madrigal, junior, is working on a project that involves teaching the elderly how to use computers. According to Madrigal, “The project focuses on seniorstudent cooperation, computer usage, and instructing techniques.” Based in the Beach High media center, these hour-anda- half classes will help keep the elderly up to date and technologically savvy. Lucia Rynka, sophomore, will be partnering with The Bass Museum of Art, “promoting their status” in the Miami Beach community. Rynka plans to use the marketing and promotional strategies that she has learned as an FBLA member to increase awareness of all that the museum has to offer, especially among Beach High students. Other projects are still in planning, but one vice president has her eye on dental health.
Beach High has a strong history in FBLA, consistently receiving the Gold Seal Chapter award, which recognizes “outstanding Florida charters that have actively participated in projects and programs identified with the goals of FBLA.” FBLA is one of Beach High’s most successful organizations; last year, membership was well above 100 students.
FBLA members will be competing in the District competition in January. Here, students will take objective tests and participate in speaking events, in hopes of placing highly enough to make it to States. The National Leadership conference will be held in Orlando this summer.
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