“Future Business Leaders of America”—-this is, at least partly, what probably most of the students competing in FBLA state this year hope to become. 

This year, 47 Fossil Ridge High School students qualified for state by placing in regionals, out of which 21 will attend the competition. The competition will take place in Denver from Monday, the 18 through Wednesday, the 20 of April.

“I’m pretty excited, it’s my first year so I’m also a little nervous, but mostly excited,” said Riley Jones, a sophomore here at Fossil. She placed second in both Human Resource Management and Broadcast Journalism which she will be competing at state.

Jordan Vandermeulen, commonly known as Mr. Van, the teacher leading FBLA, is feeling optimistic about the students’ performance.

“The teams that we’re taking are strong and they have experience. They went through a lot of the virtual stuff that we did last year, so I think that they’re well suited for qualifying for nationals,” he said. “They also come from a lot of different backgrounds, which helps.” 

Going into the state competition, the students have a lot of different goals.

“I hope to place or qualify for nationals, but I’m really just planning on going to have fun and learn,” said Jones.

“Out of those [who qualify], I hope a lot of folks will be going; the nationals experience is so unique, and will also be in Chicago this year,” said Vandermeulen.

“If I qualify, I’ll definitely go,” said Jones, “It sounds super fun.”

But no matter if students qualify for state or nationals, just participating in FBLA is its own experience from which one can gain a lot. 

“It helps them channel their passion into learning to grow as a professional, being able to present to adults, put together a coherent presentation and get their ideas across. Maybe you’re not able to do in a class that is very content-focused, that they’re able to explore and really just grow and own their skills,” said Vandermeulen.

Jones is sure she will be doing FBLA again next year, no matter the outcome of this year’s state competition, and is looking forward to it. “I think it not only gives you business skills but also life skills,” she said, “It’s also a lot of fun.”