By Valeria Vega, CHS FBLA Reporter
The Coffee County High School FBLA attended the 2024 State Leadership Conference at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta in Atlanta. Nine members and their advisers, Brandy Barlow, Kelly Gilliard, and Kristi Joyner, attended this year’s FBLA State Leadership Conference, where members of FBLA from the entire state gathered together to participate in competitive events, workshops/team building exercises, and other activities. They also enjoyed networking and meeting FBLA members from other regions across Georgia.
During the drive to Atlanta, FBLA stopped by the Shoppes at River Crossing in Macon, where members were allowed to shop, eat lunch, and explore the mall for about two hours in groups of two or more. Once members and advisers returned to the bus, they headed straight to the hotel to settle their belongings and relax for the rest of the day. Although, the day was done for some, it wasn’t for all, some members resumed practicing and anxiously made finishing touches on their presentations and speeches for their competitive events.
Early the next morning, members got ready and changed into their business attire so they could depart to the Hyatt Regency Atlanta to attend the various workshops of their choosing or competition. Gracie Ott was a finalist in impromptu speaking. Lenira Barlow and Kevin Delgado were finalists in the public service announcement competition. Other competitors included: Pablo Nunez in Cybersecurity and Personal Finance; Rolanodo Munoz in Advertising and Risk Management; Grayson Taylor in Advertising and Future Business Educator; Tanya Patel and Addie Ingalls in Introduction to Business Procedures and Local Chapter Annual Business Report along with Dominic Mimbang; Gracie Ott in Personal Finance; Damaris Ortiz in UX Design and Economics; Jesse Hathaway in Economics and Securities and Investments; and Kiran Reddy in Introduction to Business Concepts and Introduction to Financial Math.
After the workshops and competitions, members gathered together to attend the opening session for FBLA SLC. There, members had the opportunity to meet their 2023-2024 State FBLA Officers and have fun dancing and singing along with the many other chapter members from across the state. To conclude the evening for our chapter, CHS CTAE Director Mrs. Rhonda Dorsey was recognized as Administrator of the Year and Lenira Barlow was recognized for her service as a Region 2 FBLA Officer.
The next day was the day when members had to compete in their competitive events and demonstrate to the judges the pieces of knowledge that they collected from the past few months. At 11 a.m., Lenira Barlow and Dominic Mimbang had to report for the Battle of the Chapters competitive event. This event consists of two parts: A written test, in which they had already outscored most of the state, and an oral portion where they were expected to be able to answer various questions in a round-robin style event. Everyone was on pins and needles throughout the event as they put up a good fight.
Dominic Mimbang competed in Public Policy & Advocacy, in which he was required to take a 50-minute online objective test before the actual event and he was allowed to use the standard calculator that was provided by the computer’s operating system. As a result, Dominic Mimbang ranked 7th in the state. Additionally, Dominic also won 2nd place for being one of Georgia’s Top Recruiters.
Lenira Barlow won the Region 2 Who’s Who in FBLA award. Additionally, Coffee High School’s chapter received a Superior Chapter of the Year rating this year and ranked 8th place overall in the Division I Chapter of the Year standings.
On the final day, on the ride back to Douglas, GA, Coffee FBLA stopped by BUC-EES to buy souvenirs, snacks, and meals before heading back to Douglas, GA. Congratulations to everyone who competed in competitive events and placed this year! This was definitely a trip for everyone to remember!