Stroudsburg High School arrived at Hershey Lodge on April 12th for their 75th annual State Leadership Conference. As they arrived at 5 p.m., they unloaded their luggage from the bus and went to unpack after receiving their key cards. Everyone was allowed downtime till 6, when the officers assembled lanyards for each member. At 7.30 p.m., the advisors, Mrs. Haggerty and Mrs. Grennan, and members and officers went outside for a meeting.
During these meetings, Mrs. Haggerty gave a brief rundown of the activities we would go over during the three days there. Students were given their journals, which they had to finish by Wednesday morning, a nationwide community service certificate for those with volunteer hours, lanyards, and Business Achievement awards. After the meeting, students were given pizza for dinner and went to their designated rooms to prepare for the days ahead.
Monday morning, students with early morning objective testings arrived at the Great American Hall Blue room. Some students were not taking an Objective test and were preparing for their presentations. Students who had completed their tests or presentations attended the various workshops presented at the lodge, or they went to watch the presentation events. As everyone did their individual obligations, it was time to head to the Giant Center. At the Center, there was an opening ceremony. This consisted of events won by the FBLA high school and middle school chapters in Pennsylvania. Stroudsburg won the following:
- Largest Contribution to State Charity-3rd Place
- Community Service Hours- 4th place
- Outstanding Chapter-7th Place
Tuesday consisted of roughly the same schedule. Students wrapped up visiting workshops and presentations. Those who had downtime went to Chocolate World or the outlets. By 5:45 p.m., a group photo was taken at the Hershey lodge before departing for the Giant Center. Once at the Giant Center, an introduction was given of the announcements of the state winners.
The results for national qualifiers are as follows:
- Kara Schomberg, Tess Nowosad – Social Media 1st Place
- Jack Ozkul and Ana Karataseva – Digital video 1st Place
- Giancarlo Shakai – Public Administration and Management 1st Place
- Zoey Charles, Jacob Pachter, Aryana Vidaic – Public Service Announcement 2nd Place
- Jacob Pachter, Zoey Charles, Nichole Ogwu Local chapter Annual Business Report – 3rd Place
- Zareena Diola, Kendall Runkel, Grace Gao – Digital animation 4th Place
- Nyhle Barron – Future Business Educator 4th Place
Top 10 winners who did not qualify for nationals:
- Zaynah Wade – Website Design 5th place
- Mason Ulmer – Securities and Investments 6th Place
- Genevieve Butler- Intro To Parli pro 6th
- Keala Maronpot – Broadcast Journalism 7th Place
- Davin Humphrey- Computer Applications 8th Place
- Christ Diaz- Computer Game and Simulation 10th Place
Honorable students include Zoey Charles, Abby Hevener, and Mason Ulmer for their acceptance into the National Business Honor Society. Leyla Yilmaz placed 4th for community service hours, and Mannet Patel placed 6th.
After the ceremony, National Qualifiers stayed at the stadium to discuss the plans to compete in San Antonio, Texas, this summer.
Stroudsburg’s Technology Student Association (TSA) club also had States during the same week as FBLA for the first time in recent years. Students who participate in both clubs and advance to that level were busy all week.
The State qualifiers this year were: Colin Wrazien, Eshaal Sohail, Hephzibah Kumi-Atiemo, Jacob Pachter, Tanya Sathapornwogkul, Adam Fritz, Austin Fritz, Aleah Becker, Alex Lamberton, Anaya Hein, David Chavez, David Moyer, Eliana Askari, Ellison Powell, Isabella Trunk, Jake Sanchez, Julia Bankus, Keala Maronpot, Kira Kuznetsov, Lorie Sobieszczuk, Madelyn Reeder, Madison Berkovics, Mannat Patel, Marcus Kanda, Omar Osmanzai, Reagan Scelza, Ryan Louis, Sasha Castle, Soham Patel, Sophia Cartigiano, Vaidik Patel, Zander Staples, Zareena Diola, and Zaynah Wade.
TSA States was hosted at a Mountain Ski Lodge, 7 Springs Resort, which is farther from home than Hershey Lodge. The bus ride there from the school is around five hours. The TSA and FBLA buses went to the same McDonald’s on Wednesday, the day the FBLA students returned home, to pass off students.
While all the students had a fun time, none of the students, individually or in a group, managed to advance to nationals.
Matthew Rimbey, the TSA advisor at SHS, reflected, “Beyond placements, what stands out most is the effort they showed throughout the year. Many of them were juggling practices, games, and travel during the sports seasons, which made their accomplishments even more meaningful.”
Students might be undecided about joining TSA because of their workloads and how demanding projects can be; however, Rimbey encourages “to give it a try.”
As TSA contains many opportunities in a wide range of topics from engineering to design, Rimbey communicates, “It’s a great way to build skills, meet new people, and challenge yourself in ways you might not experience in a regular classroom setting.”
Mannat Patel, ’27, praised, “TSA turned my first state experience into the highlight of my year. It wasn’t about the win, but about the memories [the club] built together.”
All students, FBLA and TSA kids alike, are already planning for States and Nationals for next year.
