Monarch’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter traveled to Vail on Saturday, April 20th to partake in the State Leadership Conference.Thirty-four students, along with advisers Rudy Sumpter and Sean McCoy, made the trip to compete in events ranging from written tests on accounting and sports management to role-play simulations on topics such as client service, with a chance at qualifying for nationals on the line.
Four Monarch students qualified for nationals in Anaheim this summer, but one other student was a big winner. Junior Amy Karlzen earned the position of District 2 Vice-President. She will represent the 19-school district (one of ten in the state) next year at FBLA events and at statewide officer meetings. When her name was announced as the winner of the position at the awards ceremony on Tuesday, Karlzen immediately thought “this is amazing. All the work I put into this has paid off.”
In addition to the lengthy application process, which included making a resume and promotional pamphlet, getting three letters of recommendation from teachers, and giving a speech in front of a selection committee, Karlzen oversaw the District 2 conference at Monarch on February 19th partly to prove to the selection committee that she is qualified to be a state officer.
Monarch earned three chapter awards, including the Peak V Award, the top honor for a school chapter, and the recognition for largest chapter in District 2. In addition, Monarch earned an award for Mr. McCoy’s Leadership in Action class’ work with the March of Dimes campaign. The class raised money for the organization, which works to improve the health of mothers and their children.
“It’s one of the best things we could raise money for,” said Sumpter. “It’s a great cause.”
Junior Derek Tully was Monarch’s sole state champion, earning the title in accounting. This is the second year in a row a Monarch student has won in that event at state. Emma Dekker, now a freshman business major at Michigan State, won last year.
Sumpter attributes the recent success in the event to Monarch’s college-level accounting class taught by a professor from Front Range Community College. Students in the class also got real-world experience by volunteering to do taxes for those who needed help. “Nine students from the class will get letters of commendation from the governor for forty or more hours of work,” Sumpter noted.
Those that qualified for nationals will travel to Anaheim this summer (if they choose to do so) with McCoy for the National Leadership Conference from June 27th through the 30th. The chapter will seek its fifth straight national trophy.
Here is a list of all students who earned a medal (10th place or better at state) and the place they got in their event:
Derek Tully- Accounting II- 1st (qualified for nationals)
Boskin Erkocevic- Computer Problem Solving- 2nd (qualified for nationals)
Charlie Light- Hospitality Management- 3rd (qualified for nationals)
Shaofan Sun- Economics- 3rd (qualified for nationals)
Amy Karlzen- Intro to business- 4th
Henry Oliver- Sports Management- 4th
Claire McCoy- E-Portfolio- 5th
Ethan Stansbury- Intro to Business- 6th
Jason Ferry- Business Calculations- 7th
Ryan Walker- Cyber Security- 8th
Roger Barrett, James Eustes, and Daniel Raizman- Entrepreneurship- 8th
Mehmed Erkocevic and Andrew Rodriguez- Marketing- 8th
Bruce Oliver- Client Services- 10th
