While celebrating their many achievements of the 2024-2025 school year, Stroudsburg Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) will reach an outstanding 40 year anniversary this year. Over the past four decades, Stroudsburg FBLA has left its mark on the community and school district by participating in various activities and opportunities.
Stroudsburg FBLA has worked with many organizations such as the Salvation Army, the United Methodst Church located on Main Street, Quiet Valley Historical Farm, Arlington Elementary School, various food pantries, and so many more. With these connections, FBLA members build relationships with those in their community and help those in need.
This past December, FBLA was recognized by Channel 16 News for their work with Arlington Elementary School to stuff and prepare dozens of holiday stockings for children in need. A group of members took time out of their busy schedules to donate and prepare these stockings.
As members complete hours, they are submitted in the club’s Google classroom by forms. These numbers are submitted to a program known as Big 33. The program keeps track of individual members’ hours and the total number of hours for the chapter. Every year at States, the top chapters with the most volunteer hours are recognized and congratulated. Gabriella Parker, ‘25, and Lile Bekaia, ‘27, are the Chairpersons of Community Service and responsible for submitting these hours to Big 33.
“Last year, our member, Leyla Yilmaz placed 7th in the state for volunteer hours so we definitely value service,” expresses Gabriella Parker, ‘25. “These experiences have shaped our members and directly shown them the impact they can make in our community, plus they usually have fun while volunteering too!”
In addition to helping those in the community, members can complete courses known as the Business Achievement Awards (BAA). These programs teach students what it means to be a true leader. There are four levels of the BAAs: Contributor, Leader, Advocate: Understanding Ethics, and the Capstone Project.
The Contributor Level teaches students about FBLA’s history, ethics, mission, and so much more. It maps out what FBLA members should strive to learn and achieve as members of the organization.
The Leader Level is designed to introduce students to leadership skills and teaches how to become a community-minded business leader. It teaches the different communication styles that an individual can fall under, as well as what it means to have emotional intelligence.
The Advocate: Understanding Ethics Level talks about the ethics and morals that individuals should take on within the workplace. These ethics include honesty, transparency, building trusting relationships, responsibility, etc.
The final level of the BAAs is the Capstone Project, which is a chance for students to do something that will benefit their community directly and potentially earn scholarship money. The student completing this project must recieve approval from their chapter advisor and propose an idea for their capstone project. A submitter must commit 80 hours towards their project and have a “mentor” above the age of 25, who is typically an individual outside of FBLA.
“The Business Achievement Awards are a very important part of FBLA since they teach about leadership skills and expand our members’ business knowledge,” states Jessica Haggerty, ‘25, president of FBLA. “They help our members explore different parts of the business world that they might not learn about anywhere else.”
(Taken from FBLA Instagram).
Every year the Pennsylvania FBLA chapter chooses a state charity. They chose an organization that helps those in the community and has a strong and powerful message that aligns with the mission of FBLA. In previous years, these state charities have been Speical Olympics, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Feeding Pennsylvania, The American Heart Association, and manynothers over 40 years! Each year, the amount of money that is set as a goal is increased, and every year, the chapters of PA FBLA fight to meet and surpass that goal.
This year’s state charity is the American Red Cross, which is an organization that works to prevent and alleviate human suffering when faced with emergencies like natural disasters by mobilizing the power of volunteers and generous donors. Pennsylvania FBLA’s goal is to raise $50,000 to help support the American Red Cross.
Stroudsburg FBLA has held multiple fundraisers to help reach this goal. They’ve sold Gertrude Hawk chocolates and Christmas wreaths during the months of November and December.
Members can participate in a donation fundraiser on a website known as SnapRaise. This money can go towards students’ cost to attend states, located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The fundraiser is presented to students after attending the Regional Leadership Conference at Palmerton High School, which is where competitors discover if they’ve made it to States.
“Competitve events in FBLA allow our members to apply their knowledge of business and its various applications through tests, presentations, and more,” explains William Awuah, ‘25, Senior Vice President of Stroudsburg FBLA. “Some members are already skilled in those events they choose, and they gain valuable experience continuously challenging themselves; these events spark new interests and career goals for members and help solidify their identities in the world of business.”
In the beginning of the school year, students have the opportunity to compete in a competitive event of their choice. These events vary in type; some include objective tests, presentations, production tests, role play, and chapter events.
This year, Stroudsburg has a total of 71 students that have qualified for states this year. Their names are listed below:
1st:
Business Law – Aryanna Vidaic, ‘26
Economics – Giancarlo Shakai, ‘26
Healthcare Administration – Zaynah Wade, ‘27
Introduction to Business Procedures – Mason Ulmer, ‘27
Introduction to Information Technology – Lile Bekaia, ‘27
Introduction to Marketing Concepts – Ella Finlayson, ‘27
Organizational Leadership – Iris Heter, ‘26
Public Policy & Advocacy – Sandy Gravesande, ‘26
Securities and Investments – Kingston Jones, ‘26
Broadcast Journalism – Alisabeth Guepet, ‘25, Jessica Haggerty, ‘25, Gabriella Parker, ‘25
Social Media Strategies – Tess Nowosad, ‘26, Kara Schomberg, ‘26
2nd:
Word Processing – Jaden Harper, ‘25
Accounting 2 – Matthew Carr, ‘26
Banking and Financial Systems – Matthew Sanchez, ‘25
Financial Math – Kona Maronpot, ‘25
Introduction to FBLA – Mallory Eberz, ‘28
Sports & Entertainment Marketing – Alexander Roman, ‘28
Broadcast Journalism – Isie Miller, ‘26, Nyla Stewart, ‘26, Liam Munian, ‘26
Client Service – Leyla Yilmaz, ‘26
Introduction to Social Media Strategy – Elizabeth Alekseyev, ‘28, Anaya Hein, ‘28
Visual Design – Luka Gogilashvili, ‘27, Hridita Hossain, ‘27
3rd:
Computer Applications – William Awuah, ‘25
Advertising – Jordyn Lippin-Worelds, ‘26
Agribusiness – Mackenzie Dalton, ‘25
Business Communications – Noelani Gonzalez, ‘26
Healthcare Administration – Allison Fazio, ‘27
Introduction to FBLA – Kieran Clingingsmith, ‘27
Personal Finance – Karis Wilkins, ‘26
Client Service – Jayden Cespedes, ‘25
Graphic Design – Ann Alekseyev, ‘25, Kaidin Hein, ‘25, Julianna Vo, ‘25
Introduction to Public Speaking – Julia Sauerman, ‘26
4th:
Introduction to Business Procedures – Sasha Castle, ‘27
Introduction to Parliamentary Procedures – Eva Troiani, ‘26
5th:
Accounting 1 – James Lee, ‘27
Business Law – Kaleigh Sarjoo, ‘28
Introduction to Financial Math – Soham Patel, ‘28
Introduction to Marketing Concepts – Dominic Decusatis, ‘27
Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure – Matthew Schulman, ‘27
Sports & Entertainment Marketing – Santino Baxter, ‘25, Christopher Brady, ‘25, Alysha Coker, ‘25
6th:
Business Law – Reagan Scelza, ‘27
Economics – Peter Leyba, ‘25
Introduction to Business Communication – Abby Hevener, ‘27
Introduction to Business Concepts – Grace Carr, ‘27
Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure – Nhyle Barron, ‘27
Introduction to FBLA – Alexandra Zambri, ‘27
Financial Math – Sofia Lin, ‘26
Intro to Business Concepts – Kyle Youman, ‘28
Introduction to Marketing Concepts – Andriana Gudzovatyy, ‘27
State Only Events:
Business Educator – Rebecca Dishong, ‘25
Intro To Programming – Chudi Ogbolu, ‘27
Business Plan – Keira King, ‘25 and Shyla Morrison, ‘25
Digital Animation – Jacob Pachter, ‘27, Nichole Ogwu, ‘27 & Zoey Charles, ‘27; Eshaal Sohail, ‘27 and Harmony Ufondu, ‘28
Digital Video – Ana Karataseva, ‘27 and Jack Ozkul, ‘27
Member at Large – Alexis Binikos, ‘25
Congratulations to all of our competitors! These students will attend the State Leadership Conference from April 7 to 9. Those who advance to Nationals will get to take a fun and well deserved trip to Anaheim, California in the summer time.
With a long history of amazing achievements, the members and supporters of Stroudsburg FBLA look to the future for continued success on all levels. Whether they’re fundraising for a state charity, volunteering in the community, or competing in their events, FBLA will continue to strive and grow here at Stroudsburg High School.
