PBL qualifies to go to nationals

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Phi Beta Lambda attended the state leadership conference on March 7. From left to right: Joel Obando, Pilar Cazares, Mariah Behrns KS PBL Vice-President, Lisa Kennedy PBL advisor and Cody Bradley SCCC PBL President. Not pictured is Jessica Schupman who received 1st in Local Chapter Annual Business Report.

Annette Meza, Managing Editor
April 2, 2020

Phi Beta Lambda traveled to Emporia for the 2020 Kansas PBL State Leadership Conference before spring break and the Coronavirus outbreak in Kansas. The group of four, Joel Obando, Pilar Cazares, Mariah Behrns and Cody Bradley, brought back many awards with Behrns elected as the new Kansas PBL president on March 7. The group qualified to attend the National Leadership Conference in June.

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Cody Bradley, Mariah Berhns and Joel Obando brought back awards and were able to place for the National Leadership Conference.

Students attended breakout sessions, workshops, keynote speakers, networking and business sessions throughout the conference. The students also listened to motivational speakers that encouraged the young entrepreneurs.

From August to March, students worked to prepare for the conference and events at SLC.

“There are many different types of events ranging from tests, role-plays (given a case study and have 10 minutes to prepare and then give a 7 minute presentation to a judge), prepared speeches, pre-judged reports (anywhere from 7-30 pages of work to be completed before SLC), technology events, or a combination of these events,” Berhns, pre-law major, said.

Berhns commented that she cannot pick out a single event that was more important than any others.

“The many benefits to the events themselves including learning more about the topics, practicing public speaking, and advancing test taking skills, and improving time management. The workshops are the aspect where business professionals share knowledge and expertise with members,” she said.

Berhns believed that many times, students learn better from a conference than reading information in a textbook. They trust, admire and see the benefit the information has been to the speaker.

For business administration major Cody Bradley, the most important part for him was having the ability to be in the competition.

“It teaches you confidence in speaking to people and it shows you focus to try and be the best you can be in that situation,” he said.

Behrns agreed and pointed out that all of the club members, whether they attended the conference or not, have been working hard in their community service project, fundraising and hosting the FBLA District VIII competition.

“I could not be any more proud of my chapter and know that they will all do well in PBL, their careers and their futures overall,” she said.

Below are the awards won by SCCC’s PBL members:

Mariah Behrns: