Palmerton Area High School’s Future Business Leaders of America club has been gaining steam in recent years, but its performance at the recent state competition in Hershey sent it to record-breaking heights.

Thirty-five Palmerton students competed at states, with eight qualifying for the national conference in San Antonio in June. It is the most national qualifiers in Palmerton’s history.

“Our FBLA club has been growing exponentially, and the fact that they made history at states this year is very exciting,” said Kerry Palumbo, who advises the club along with Jennifer Danzeisen.

National qualifiers included Maggie Morgan, second place in Computer Application; Matt Binder, first, and Devin Rivera, fourth, in Database Design; Jake Martinez, third, in Job Interview; Erica Messics and Grace Costenbader, fourth, for Publication Design; and Mikayla Wilkins and Mitchell Hourt, first, in Emerging Business Issues.

Seven of the eight qualifiers have already committed to making the trip to San Antonio. Julia Kupillas, who placed sixth in Client Service, will also compete, as not all of the top four qualifiers in that category can attend.

Rivera has been to the state competition all four years of his high school career and placed twice.

“I’ve made friendships I could never replace,” Rivera said. “To be able to meet students from different parts of the state has been a great experience. FBLA has given me an opportunity to explore a future career in business.”

Rivera is headed to Slippery Rock University to major in accounting.

“I was able to accept a major scholarship for full tuition, and I owe that mainly to FBLA,” he said.

The competitions have also given students a chance to excel in areas where they may not have much prior experience. Costenbader and Messics, for example, designed branding for a new charter school as part of their publication design event.

“That is a class we really don’t offer these students,” Palumbo said, “but they worked on their own and developed those skills through their own time and effort.”

With Palmerton’s FBLA success comes the need for additional funding consideration from the district. According to Palumbo, though 35 students competed at states, 42 actually qualified.

“Some couldn’t go, and financial considerations did play a role in that,” she said. “We are capped out in our fundraising. We conducted four fundraisers with $1,500 being the most raised in any single fundraiser. The community has a ceiling with how much they can donate, and there are so many fundraisers from different groups to go around these days.”

In past years, the district had increased its annual FBLA stipend to $8,000.

The bill for the state competition was almost $20,000. Last week, the board unanimously approved taking nearly $10,000 from the general fund balance to cover the cost of six students and one adviser attending the national event in San Antonio.

Palmerton has had at least one or two national qualifiers each year since 2012, but because the number was so small, an adviser from another school taking more students was usually overseeing the Palmerton contingent.

“I’m constantly amazed at these kids and their presence,” board member Kathy Fallow said.

“FBLA is really teaching them how to transition into the business world. I think it’s a wonderful thing and support them 100 percent.”

Director Barry Scherer suggested looking at increasing funding for FBLA in the budget in future years.

“This is outstanding to have these kids represent Palmerton on a national stage,” he said. “I’m certainly in favor of this.”

The board’s decision to provide funding for nationals was met with applause from those in attendance at last week’s meeting.

“We don’t want this to be a club you can only participate in if you have money,” Palumbo said. “It’s encouraging to see the district financially support these academic endeavors.”

Lehighton student also qualifies

Palumbo’s daughter, Cara, was the only national qualifier for Lehighton Area High School’s FBLA club. Cara, the Lehighton FBLA president, placed fifth in Securities and Investment at states. Cara said she will be fundraising to support her trip to San Antonio.

Lehighton’s Business Plan team of Emma Schappell, Jade Steber and Karissa Hough placed sixth at states.