The Future Business Leaders of America is a nationally recognized club designed to connect business education with the working force and instill leadership into several young students of the North Hills High School and schools all over the country. This club was started by teacher Mrs. Kainth because she was a part of the FBLA in high school and thought it was a great way to incorporate students in the business world at a young age.

The Future Business Leaders are led by President Maddie Simms, Co-Vice Presidents Alyse Kaminski and Anastasia July, Treasurer Tyler Schmidtt, Secretary Aletheia Uechi, and Public Relations/Reporter MeKenzie Saban. Four of the current officers attended states last year. President Maddie Simms placed in the top ten for Social Media Presentations, Anastasia July placed second in the region for Accounting 2, and Vincent Melchiorre, whom I have recently had the chance to interview, placed first region for Intro to Business Procedures.

Vincent Melchiorre, a three-year veteran of the FBLA, likes the club because it “Helps him learn about the modern business world by taking field trips to colleges and applying business to everyday life.” He recommends this club to everyone because it will help you later in life and it helps you learn how to make money. Another FBLA member I got to interview was Ryan Buzzard. Ryan has been in the FBLA for two years and in his second year he made it to states for Intro to Business Procedures. His favorite part of the club is the fact that you “Get to go on a lot of field trips with great people with similar interests as you, get out of class, and meet a bunch of new people that can later help you in life.”

When it comes to field trips, the FBLA goes to many colleges such as University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, and Penn State Behrend to compete in competitions that require students to create videos, make speeches, or take tests on certain topics picked by judges. The FBLA also attends Annual Accounting Career Day Conference at Duquesne University, the annual University of Pittsburgh Phi Beta Lambda Business Conference, State Leadership Conference and Competition in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and they participate in business-related symposiums and school sponsored club events.

For anyone interested in joining the club, it isn’t just for people who want to be in the business field when they’re older. It’s for anyone that wants to have a good time and learn about the future of our country and for people who want to get their name out in the business world and make connections early on in life.