SPOKANE, Wash. — All week long, Downtown Spokane was flooded with high school students from all over Washington state. Just over 2,500 students gathered at the Davenport Grand with one common goal: to become the future business leaders of America.
The Future Business Leaders of America hosted their State Business Leadership Conference, where students who had already advanced from regional competitions in February competed in the state competition.
The event was open to middle schoolers but was mainly attended by students at the high school level. These students could compete across 70 different categories.
“This is like my last hurrah. I’m finally getting to see all the work that we’ve put in for the last year,” said Suzanne Xu, FBLA state president.
Students gave presentations and took quizzes in front of judges in categories like public speaking and business ethics. The competition provided real-world experience that many participants said they couldn’t get elsewhere.
“It really creates the opportunity to do something that I would have never been able to do in high school and get real feedback from real industry professionals and have the experience,” said Katie Sheppard, a public service announcement finalist.
Joel Frimpong, who competed in the business plan category, described his experience designing a cafe concept. “It was fun. You get to design a bunch of stuff, we designed our cafe and basically build a business and try to get our business into the real life,” he said.
“I feel like I’m more confident and I kind of know what I’m doing a little bit more,” said Carter Boutwell, a broadcast journalism finalist.
The conference was also open to “non – business” related activities. Across the street from the hotel, an e-sports lounge hosted student gamers practicing for finals in Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros competitions.
Four winners will be announced from each category. Those winners will advance to the national competition in San Antonio, Texas, scheduled for June.
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