The students in Neshaminy participate in a club that is based on business knowledge tests. The club starts up every fall season and students take a test to compete with other students in the state, to be amongst the top 5 to receive the highest scores.  Testing starts in the beginning of December in one of the BCIT rooms. Students find the result of testing after they attend the Delaware University Ceremony to determine what place they received. If the student placed in the top 5 they go to states in Hershey and compete in more testing, but if they did not place in the top 5 then they do not attend.

Neshaminy High School’s Future Business Leaders of America club requires members to choose from a number of topics about business. One month later, depending on the topic they chose, they have an hour to take a 100 point test, which determines if they make it to the next round, or present a presentation. 

At the end of the season, everyone who participated, including members from other schools in the region, can attend the award ceremony held at Delaware Valley University, where they find out if they placed well enough to advance to the State Leadership Conference. The young members have to make their own effort to prepare for and advance to this level of the competition, and it looks like NHS competitors’ hard work is paying off this season.

Participant Molly Hitchen from NHS placed third overall in the category of business management. She started preparing weeks prior to testing with Quizlet study guides and other study materials.

“In order to prepare for the test, I used a combination of ways to study. I used the study materials given to us by [Head of FBLA] Mrs. Michael, a pretty long Quizlet, and, in my opinion, the most helpful [material was a] series of videos that went really in depth into my topic. I was not quite sure how I was going to do on the test,” Hitchen said.

Another participant, Casey Pierson, who placed fourth overall in introduction to event planning, had a great advantage in preparing for the competition.

“I prepared for the test by using a Quizlet [study guide] online and researching the topics listed in the website. I thought I was going to do [well] on the test because I was lucky enough to know somebody that worked in the field of business my test was on to help me. I got a 65% and placed fourth overall,” Pierson said. 

In April, Michael will take the members who made it to states to Hershey Park to compete in more testing and attempt to move on to the next round: Nationals. Along the way, members can draw the interest of colleges and get scholarship opportunities related to business. Wish them good luck as they work and compete to represent NHS’s future business leaders this season!