Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Locals group selected as top chapter
ODESSA - The Odessa High School Future Business Leaders of America chapter was named the state's Outstanding Chapter for 2020 during the organization's annual State Leadership Conference.
This year, the traditional conference turned into a virtual conference, with 17 local members competing from their homes.
Each chapter created, recorded and uploaded digital presentations to the state office for judging. After waiting several weeks, awards were announced over a two-week period.
Odessa High School was named Washington Outstanding Chapter for 2020.
This is a great honor and required a lot of work by the officer team and members to achieve all the goals established by the state and national organizations, the adviser said.
In addition, Kelly Weber was chosen FBLA Alumna of the Year.
Maddy Wagner won a $1,000 Professional Division Scholarship, and Hayden Miller was honored for creating the best video for the State Handbook competition.
Other winning local entries include:
• First place for Local Chapter Annual Business Report - The 15-page report was written by Chloe Winkler, Charleigh Cornett, Wagner, Grace Nelson and Caitlyn Schuh. It summarizes chapter activities over the past year.
• First place for Partnership with Business - The team of Schuh, Wagner, Maddie Scrupps, Zane Hamper, Nelson and Yvette Davey worked with Embrace Washington to improve the lives of Eastern Washington children in foster care.
• Second place for Community Service Project. Scrupps, Ireland Luiten, Ashlyn Neilsen, Jaden Hunt, Gage Starkel and Laela Hardung worked with the town of Odessa to make improvements to cemetery, including a new digital map and a website. They will soon be implementing an adopt-a-grave program.
• Third place for Electronic Career Portfolio - Wagner created a portfolio about a career as a nurse anesthetist.
• Third place for American Enterprise Project - Kaya Curo, Jett Nelson, Hayden Miller, Joshua Valverde and Landen Brooks taught students throughout the school about an Experience Economy and how it is changing business in America.
• Fourth place for Intro to Business Presentation - Winkler, Scrupps and Cornett created a 7-minute presentation about how the media can recover from a tarnished image.
• Fourth place for Publication Design. - Wagner, Neilsen and Nelson create an original design package for an up-and-coming band.
• Fourth place for Business Plan - Weber, Marcus King and Josie Westmoreland wrote a RV rental business financial plan.
This letter is written to nominate Kelly Weber for Alumni Member of the Year. Kelly was a sophomore in high school when I arrived on the scene at Odessa High School as a 22-year old business teacher in 1986. She was in my typing class. Over the next three years she participated in FBLA and became our chapter president. I had a lot to learn about running an FBLA chapter, and Kelly made the job much easier as a great president.
Fast forward 30 years later, and Kelly is still heavily involved in FBLA. She has been a speech coach and proofreader for our chapter for over 10 years. She has attended every state and national conference during that time; we believe she is our secret weapon!
Kelly works tirelessly with students before the conference proofreading reports and offering advice as they create presentations. During conferences, she stays up late to the wee hours of the morning making sure every team is ready to compete, and she is the first to get up and start the coffee. We rarely feed her because we are so busy, she has to share a bed because of tight school budgets, and her glass of pinot grigio has to wait until we get home. Still, she is patient, kind, funny and always generous to the students. We make fun of her OCD tendencies when it comes to spelling and grammar, but she is the reason our students perform so well. She catches the little things when everyone else is worrying about the big picture. She has judged many competitions and is as knowledgeable as anyone on the rules and requirements for competition.
Traveling with our chapter is a labor of love because at the manager of the Odessa Physical Therapy Department, she has to use vacation time for state and nationals. Kelly is a mom to three very successful FBLA members, and with her last son Camden graduating this year, I fear that she may graduate from our chapter with him. Every chapter should be so lucky to have alumni like Kelly who are committed to bringing out the best in each member. I highly recommend Kelly as FBLA Alumni of the Year as she is most deserving.
Sincerely,
Terri King
Odessa High School Business Education
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