By Meena Ropp
On Tuesday, the Centennial FBLA team drove up to the DoubleTree hotel and convention center in Colorado Springs to compete in the Future Business Leaders of America regional tournament.
Despite the weather and the district two hour delay, the students still managed to participate in the all-day competition.
Centennial’s team, entering the competition with a mere 103 participants, won the prize for the largest team at the conference, which is an enormous improvement in size from the previous year.
After months of research, studying, and dedication, the Centennial students prepared for the long day of competing ahead of them.
Each student competing in either one test category and one presentation category or two test categories worked long, hard hours to prepare for their events.
Students with pre-judged topics and tests attended various workshops in which a guest speaker from organizations and businesses shared some of their past experiences and works of wisdom to inspire the young business leaders.
Competitors in presentation categories events anxiously waited their turn to use the prep room, participate in role-plays, and present PowerPoints.
For lunch, the students were allowed to leave the hotel grounds and visit various shops and restaurants to find eating options.
At the end of the tournament, once each category had been judged, the students gathered together to receive their awards.
Among many of the award recipients was Nadia Jackson, a sophomore, who won first prize in the Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure category.
“This is the second year I will get to go to FBLA state and I’m really excited,” Jackson exclaimed.
Another recipient was Greg Briseno, a sophomore, who received fourth place for the Introduction to Business Communication test.
“This is my first year, and I’m just happy that I did this well for my first time in FBLA,” Briseno said.
Among the many other award recipients, the Centennial competitors won in over three quarters of all of the FBLA topics and tests.
After Centennial’s success at the 2020 district tournament, the participants hope to do just as well at the upcoming state tournament.
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