Aspiring business moguls take the lead at school

For the five members of Cedar Grove-Belgium High School’s new Future Business Leaders of America chapter, their first training in organization and management came with getting the club up and running.

Senior Kendall Olson said she wanted to get involved in a business club during her sophomore year.

  But when Olson asked business education teacher Landa Paradise if the school had one, she was told it didn’t — and hadn’t since the previous group disbanded more than 20 years ago.

But Paradise told Olson if she could find a few students to join, they could start one themselves.

So Olson started gathering her friends, recruiting Cameron Holle, Lily Nehring, Alyssa Chubeck and Ben Getschman.

Paradise said she supported the students as they got it started, but didn’t hold her breath.

“I admit I was apprehensive as I’d been involved in starting clubs like this before,” she said. “But they really took it and went with it.”

Over the last couple of years, the group went to different business events and camps before joining the FBLA organization this school year, Paradise said.

At one of those events, Olson and Chubeck said they met a business leader who had graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with dual business degrees, which inspired their decision to enroll at the same college this year.

The students had to present their club to the principal and then the superintendent before it was brought to the School Board, Paradise said.

“These guys are highly motivated,” Paradise said. “I don’t do a lot. They have to be very interested. Like the saying, I just led them to the water.”

Holle said being on the ground floor of the club and helping to take the “decisive” action to get it started was good preparation for their FBLA events.

FBLA has regional, state and national championships. Competition categories are broken into group and individual projects, including tests, presentations and role-playing scenarios where students are put in the shoes of business leaders.

“It’s things like, if you were importing something through Mexico, how would you do it? What are the steps?” Chubeck said.

Their chapter had to complete a 17-page report on American enterprise, she said.

Paradise said FBLA is unique among club organizations in being largely student-run and giving students many options on what areas they want to pursue.

“There’s not a lot holding them back,” she said.

At one of their first meetings, Paradise told the members, “Here is a slideshow with 50 events to choose from. Do what you want.”

Each of the club’s members chose different focuses for their competitions. Olson chose marketing, Chubeck chose international business and Holle business management.

Chubeck said her focus resonated with her interest in international business systems and planned major in college, while Holle said his is similar to his ultimate career goal of becoming a chief financial officer.

Several of the club members will compete at the state competition in Green Bay at the end of March, and club members could qualify for nationals in California, Paradise said.

Competing at state and national tournaments in business are great resume boosters, several of the club members pointed out.

However, Chubeck said, the competitions are rewarding by themselves.

“We aren’t competing just for the resume but because we are passionate about business,” she said.

Paradise said the practical skills students learn in FBLA are the most valuable. As much as she can tell her classes about the importance of proper dress and professional skills, it is different for them to compete in a tournament where they get scored  on it.

“Those real-world skills that are needed in the business world are implemented,” she said. “They hear about it from other people than just me.”

The new club is a perfect fit at the high school, Paradise said, which has recently increased its focus on career and technical education. In 2022, the high school improved its technical education facilities with funds from a district referendum.

Paradise said three of the club’s members are graduating this year, but she’s confident it will continue on with the two returning students taking over as leaders next year and word of mouth growing around the school.

She said a goal for the club is to find business partnerships and host events at the school.

Each FBLA club picks a charity to raise money for. Paradise said their club is fundraising for Alzheimer’s research.