Nelson named FBLA Admin of the Year

ODESSA – On April 20, Jamie Nelson, the K-12 principal at the Odessa School District, accepted her award as the FBLA Administrator of the Year for the state of Washington at the FBLA leadership conference held in Spokane.

Emily Scrupps, president of the Odessa High School chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America, presented the award to Nelson for her support of the local chapter. Odessa's FBLA chapter advisor Terri King wrote the nomination letter submitted to the state's FBLA governing body.

King wrote that Nelson, in her role as principal at Odessa since 2014, had significant impact on the local chapter with her wholehearted support of FBLA.

As a stickler for rules and with a desire to be informed of all activities, Nelson faced weekly chapter requests to start projects, hold special events, approve fundraising requests and disrupt the school day for chapter activities that appeared never-ending.

She is described as a patient listener, a wise advisor and a steadfast source of encouragement.

As the pandemic hit the local chapter and brought all FBLA activities to halt at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Nelson expressed concern about the social and emotional well-being of the students.

An FBLA work program was created, and the chapter attempted a return to normal by planning a Community Service and American Enterprise project.

Nelson helped lay out a plan to cook hundreds of flatbreads for front-line workers, not only to give back to essential workers but also to provide a sense of normalcy for the students. She was instrumental in strategic planning efforts to meet FBLA goals while following the Department of Health guidelines. Chapter members thus had an opportunity to make a difference and had fun doing so.

As chapter members prepared for competitions at regional and state leadership conferences, Nelson's expertise as a former English teacher was put to use as she proofread, listened and provided feedback to chapter members as they prepared their presentations. She put in long hours, making herself available to help members whenever asked.

In October, the local chapter faced a virtual fall conference on Thursday, a Lowe's Red-Vest volunteer day and a community celebration for 100 people the following Friday and an athletic booster club fundraiser for which the local FBLA chapter handles all the publications on Saturday. Nelson took extreme measures to ensure that each of these obligations was met successfully by covering classes, supervising students and assisting wherever possible.

King added that the goals of FBLA could never be reached without the unconditional support and enthusiastic backing of the school principal, who ultimately has the power to make life easy or hard. Jamie Nelson proved to be the strongest supporter of FBLA at the local, state and national levels, making it possible for dozens of students to attend the state and national conferences each year and complete the recommended programs.