Fostering future professionals

Fostering future professionals at regional FBLA competition

Jan. 30, 2020 LA GRANDE, Ore. – Nearly 400 middle and high schoolers are set to participate in the regional Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competition at Eastern Oregon University on Feb. 6.

EOU has hosted this annual competition since the mid-1980s. 

“The staff, faculty and volunteers are key components in creating this opportunity for students and providing high levels of competition to prepare them for state,” said Jennifer Teeter, the FBLA advisor for Imbler Schools. 

The events are designed to encourage students to start thinking about careers they’re interested in pursuing, while exposing them to the environment of a college campus. Hundreds of teens wear suits and dress shoes for the day-long competition.

“Students dress professionally and their behavior suddenly changes,” Teeter said. “At that moment, they get to see themselves as business professionals.” 

Event categories include speech, interviewing and role-playing. New events this year challenge middle school students in presenting elevator speeches, game design, multimedia and website design, and an internship interview. Prior to competing, students prepare to interview for internships in sports marketing, fashion design and TV broadcast. High school students compete in impromptu speaking, business tests, solving case problems and mock job interviews. 

After the events conclude, an award ceremony is held to identify the top 10 competitors. These students travel to Portland for the state conference in April. 

For more information contact Tonya Williams in the College of Business at tlwilliams@eou.edu.

Written by PR Intern Briana Rosenkranz.