Twelve Emporia State students are headed to Baltimore for national competition after earning awards at the 2018 Kansas State Leadership Conference. The students were among 14 members of ESU’s chapter of Phi Beta Lambda who traveled to Butler Community College in El Dorado for the event. During the conference, James Willingham, coordinator of graduate and career services in the ESU School of Business, was recognized as PBL State Advisor of the Year.
PBL is the collegiate level of Future Business Leaders of America. It builds on communication, leadership, networking, and business skills for the future and is open to all majors. ESU joined seven other schools with competitors at the conference.
As members of Emporia State’s PBL, students can compete in over 50 events at the state and national level, help in various community service events, gain leadership skills and experience, apply classroom learning to a real-world setting, promote business to high school students and to the community, and can be trained to be the next line of leaders in any profession.
Said Grayce McAllister, a business administration major from Americus, “I had the great pleasure of getting to know several of my fellow students better and see the wonderful talent that they have. It was also a great way to hone in on several skills and materials I have been working to master this semester.”
The ESU delegation brought home 15 first-place finishes from the state competition. The ESU students who qualified for the national conference in June are:
- Lauren Diaz, Second, Cyber Security.
- Paul Frost, Third, Macroeconomics.
- Mackenzie Hofstra, First, Contemporary Sports Issues; First, Justice Administration; Second, Sports Management & Marketing.
- Karoline Kennedy, First, Business Presentation; Second, Public Speaking.
- Rob Lara, Second, Impromptu Speaking; Third, Personal Finance; Third, Sales Presentation.
- Grayce McAllister, First, Job Interview; First, Public Speaking; Second, Global Analysis & Decision Making.
- Madison Orrange, First, Accounting Analysis & Decision Making; First, Accounting for Professionals; Second, Cost Accounting; Third, Accounting Principles.
- Kristi Pickett, First, Accounting Principles; First, Financial Concepts; First, Personal Finance.
- Kimberly Raygoza, First, Human Resource Management.
- Ashley Rietcheck, First, Accounting Analysis & Decision Making; First, Client Service; Second, Accounting Principles.
- Jake Smith, First, Cyber Security; Third, Computer Concepts; Third, Website Design.
- Carolina Taylor, First, Cost Accounting; Third, Business Law.