Four Lake Zurich High School students recently qualified for the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference.
Juniors Alex Li, Miriam Chung, Samhita Tammana and senior Megan Kalafut will head to Atlanta in June for the national competition, said Shannon Fermanich, the FBLA adviser and business education teacher at the high school.
Tammana said to prepare for the state competition, she and her partner, Chung, researched their topic on animal testing for a seven-minute speech.
“To prepare for nationals, we will look over the comments our judges made at the state competition and will take into account all the recommendations they gave us to improve our speech,” she said.
The students competed in the state competition in March and qualified for nationals based on their scores in respective subjects: Kalafut in economics, Li in business calculations, and Tammana and Chung in business law, according to school officials.
Fermanich said the students competed against more than 1,000 other students at the high school state conference. The top four finishers in each category were selected to advance to the national competition.
Fermanich said the school-sponsored club is involved in fundraising and events, but the group also focuses on competitions. She said students can compete in 85 subjects.
“The local, state, and national conferences also provide workshops and guest speakers so students can improve their leadership skills,” she said.
Christine Won is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.