Amherst High School’s Business Department sponsors and runs our Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter.

Sign-up is always held in September (until the end of the month) each school year, and anybody in grades 9-12 can join. If you haven’t joined in the past, you are welcome no matter what grade you are in.

"Our first academic competition is the regional, which is always held the first weekend in February. The state competition is held the end of March/beginning of April and will be located in Green Bay through 2025. The national competition is held at various locations around the country and takes place during the end of June/beginning of July."

For more information, please contact the FBLA advisor, Mr. Zellmer.

https://www.wifbla.org/home

President: Siri Anderson
Vice President: Ethan Felckowski
Treasurer: Ada Stevens
Secretary: Katie Lechton

Orlando, Florida—A student from Amherst High School won top prizes at the 2024 National Leadership Conference of Future Business Leaders of America, Inc. (FBLA), the nation’s largest Career and Technical Student Organization focused solely on business. The event, held in Orlando, Florida, from June 29 to July 2, attracted more than 13,000 middle school and high school students and educators from across the country.

More than 8,700 High School members from nearly 1,600 high schools and more than 850 Middle School members from more than 250 middle schools competed for cash prizes in more than 100 competitive events over four days. Students also engaged in learning workshops, met with representatives from more than 60 colleges, universities, and employers, and heard from Shawn Nelson, the founder and CEO of Lovesac, during the opening ceremony. Amherst sent Riley Kostuch to the 2024 National Leadership Conference in Insurance and Risk Management. Kostuch made history as he placed 9th overall, which is the highest any student has been in recent Amherst FBLA History.

“Our student members did an exceptional job in wowing the judges with their keen understanding of areas as diverse as accounting, cyber security, and health care administration,” FBLA President & CEO Alexander T. Graham said. “They headed home with a renewed sense of accomplishment, a robust network of peers from across the country, and connections to colleges and employers as they explore future career opportunities.”

Future Business Leaders of America, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with active middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. FBLA inspires and prepares students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences. The association is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. For more information, visit fbla.org.

36 of Amherst High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members traveled to Green Bay on April 7th to compete at the State Leadership Conference against over 2,500 students from all across Wisconsin! The two-day conference had many business workshops and tours for members to attend and increase business skills. Students also had the chance to compete against FBLA members from 235 other schools in various business competitive events such as presentations, tests, and speeches. Conference members were able to make connections with business leaders while touring facilities such as Cellcom, UW-Green Bay, Lambeau Field, Resch Center, Investors Community Bank, and Schneider National Logistics.

Students were also able to participate in the Future Fair. The fair gave students the opportunity to chat with college representatives from Michigan State University, UW-Madison, UW-Oshkosh, UW-La Crosse, UW-Stout, Lakeland University, and Concordia University Wisconsin to name a few, as well as military representatives and companies such as Microsoft and Bubblr. There were many panels and seminars for students to attend during the conference as well.

During the closing ceremony, junior Katie Lechton received the honor of “Outstanding

FBLA Member.” The following students placed in competitions:

● Otto Schultz (5th place, Database Applications and Design)
● Riley Kostuch (1st place, Insurance and Risk Management)

With his first-place win, Riley qualified for the National Leadership Conference, and will travel to Orlando, Florida at the end of June to compete in his event and represent both Amherst and the state of Wisconsin.

Thank you to Amherst FBLA advisors, Mr. Travis Zellmer and Mrs. Jodi Zblewski, who helped work the state conference, along with Hunter Warner and Jarrett Davidson who served as timers and helped chaperone our students.

by Katie Lechton, Amherst High School FBLA Secretary

By Katie Lechton, Amherst FBLA Secretary

Amherst High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members traveled to Green Bay on April 16, 2023, to compete at the State Leadership Conference against more than 3,000 students from all across Wisconsin! The two-day conference had many business workshops and tours for members to attend and increase business skills. Students also had the chance to compete against FBLA members from 226 other schools in various business competitive events such as presentations, tests, and speeches. Conference members were able to make connections with business leaders while touring facilities such as Cellcom, UW-Green Bay, Lambeau Field, Resch Center, and Investors Community Bank.

Students were also able to participate in the Future Fair. The fair gave students the opportunity to chat with college representatives from the University of Iowa, UW- Madison, UW-Stout, and UW-Green Bay to name a few, as well as military representatives. There were many panels and seminars for students. This year, there were two keynote speakers: Alexander Graham, the CEO of FBLA, and Frank Hermans, who is an author, producer, and owns Let Me Be Frank Productions (which has been entertaining people in northeastern Wisconsin since 2000).

During the closing ceremony, senior Drew Lewallen received the honor of “Who’s Who in FBLA.” The following students placed in competitions:

● Matthew Glodowski, Tyler Soulsby, Drew Lewallen, Sam Wangelin - 8th place Parliamentary Procedure
● Eli Zakrzewski - 7th place Network Design
● Luke O'Brien - 8th place Networking Infrastructures
● Noah Spoelstra and Garrison Gordon - 8th place Management Information Systems
● Riley Kostuch - 3rd place Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure

Thank you to Amherst FBLA advisors, Travis Zellmer and Jodi Zblewski, who helped work the state conference, along with Hunter Warner who served as a timer and helped chaperone our students.

By Katie Lechton, Amherst FBLA Secretary

On Saturday, February 3th, 73 students from Amherst High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter competed at Regionals at Athens High School. Members competed against 600 students from 29 different schools including D.C. Everest, Marshfield, Rhinelander, and SPASH, as FBLA competes geographically instead of by enrollment.

Students competed by taking a test, presenting, speaking, or interviewing on a business-related topic and needed to place 3rd or higher in their event to qualify for state. Amherst had 38 students qualify for the state competition on April 8th and 9th, which will be held in Green Bay, while also placing 2nd overall as a team.

The following teams placed first:
● TJ Brandl, Jacob Dombrowski, and Balin Wojtalewicz (Network Design)
● Michael Glodowski, Logan Hintz, and Elliot Podeszwa (Introduction to Programming)

The following teams placed second:
● Logan Herod and Leila Stremkowski (Hospitality and Event Management)
● Ty Schelvan, Parker Soulsby, and Eli Zakrzewski (Financial Statement Analysis)
● Allison Lassa and Sam Nooyen (Introduction to Social Media Strategy)
● Mia Rockefeller and Presley Voss (Visual Design)

The following teams placed third:
● Drew Bandy, Delaney Conner, and Addelaide Lemar (Banking & Financial Systems)
● Aleah Breed, Lily Haas, Eden Lea, Maizee Martin, and Scout Spadoni (Parliamentary Procedure)

The following individuals placed first:
● Michael Benjamin (Networking Infrastructure)
● Riley Kostuch (Insurance & Risk Management)
● Maddie Lusic (Entrepreneurship)
● Otto Schultz (Database Design)
● Paige Lemke (Introduction to Business Presentation)

The following individuals placed second:
● Siri Anderson (Help Desk)
● Jacob Kirsling (Agribusiness)
● Katie Lechton (Journalism)
● Claire McKenzie (Introduction to Business Procedures)
● Addison Allen (Introduction to FBLA)

The following individuals placed third:
● Danica Lassa (Health Care Administration)
● Kayla Cullen (Securities & Investments)
● Harlee Kirsling (Job Interview)
● Ada Stevens (Accounting 2)
● Alexis Wiesman (Computer Problem Solving)

Thank you to the 2024 judges, timers, and chaperones: Tanner Schelvan, Hunter Warner, and Carter Zblewski. A thank you also goes out to advisors Travis Zellmer and Jodi Zblewski. Without these individuals and all of the work they do, the success that Amherst FBLA has achieved wouldn’t be possible.

By Katie Lechton, Amherst FBLA Secretary

On Saturday, February 4, 67 students from Amherst High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter competed at Regionals at Owen-Withee High School. Members competed against 615 students from 31 different schools including D.C Everest, Marshfield, Rhinelander, and SPASH, as FBLA competes geographically instead of by enrollment.

Students competed by taking a test, presenting, speaking, or interviewing on a business-related topic and needed to place 3rd or higher in their event to qualify for state. Amherst had 37 students qualify for the state competition on April 17-18, which will be held in Green Bay, while also placing third overall as a team.

The following teams placed first:
● Introduction To Event Planning (Logan Herod, Reid Olson, Leila Stremkowski)
● Network Design (Parker Soulsby and Eli Zakrzewski)

The following teams placed second:
● Banking and Financial Systems (Drew Bandy and Cole Schlutter)
● Business Management (Ryan Breed, Jacob Spoelstra, Ethan Zilisch)
● Introduction to Business Presentation (Harlee Kirsling, Claire Lewallen, Maddie Lusic)
● Management Information Systems (Garrison Gordon and Noah Spoelstra)
● Parliamentary Procedure (Matthew Glodowski, Drew Lewallen, Tyler Soulsby, Sam Wangelin, Jacob Dombrowski)

The following teams placed third:
● Entrepreneurship (Aleah Breed, Kayla Cullen, Aaliyah Lopez)
● International Business (Estella Brown and Angelina Port)

The following individuals placed first:
● Siri Anderson (Securities and Investments)
● Jake Derezinski (Word Processing)
● Maria Kildahl (Political Science)
● Riley Kostuch (Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure)

The following individuals placed second:
● Otto Boelk (Supply Chain Management)
● Katie Lechton (Introduction to Information Technology)
● Luke O’Brien (Networking Infrastructure)
● Jack Seeger (Introduction to Business Concepts)
● Balin Wojtalewicz (UX Design)

The following individuals placed third:
● Mason Colligan (Client Service)
● Adam Kirsling (Advertising)
● Jen Omernik (Cyber Security)

Thank you to the 2023 judges, timers, and chaperones: Tristan Schelvan, Hunter Warner, and Carter Zblewski. A thank you also goes out to advisors Travis Zellmer and Jodi Zblewski. Without these individuals and all of the work they do, the success that Amherst FBLA has achieved wouldn’t be possible.

On February 5, 2022, Amherst FBLA competed at the regional academic competition for business.  There were 29 schools in the competition, including four Division 1 schools (as FBLA competes geographically and not by student enrollment), with more than 500 students competing.  Amherst took second place overall as a team. The club has 50 members, and 30 of them placed in the top 3 of their competitive event. This qualifies these 30 students for Business World, which will be held June 19-22 at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis.   

The following 20 FBLA Members placed in the top three of their competitive event at the Regional Leadership Competition held this past Saturday, February 6. Finishing in the top three qualifies them for advancement to the state competition held in April. Amherst competed against 28 other high schools, including four Division 1 schools. (FBLA competes geographically, and not by school enrollment.) Amherst took third place overall out of the 28 schools.