Over 100 Palmerton Area High School “Future Business Leaders of America” showed their talent in record-breaking fashion during the recent Region 21 leadership conference.

In an event held on its home turf Jan. 5, Palmerton qualified 77 students for the state conference in Hershey later this spring.

“That’s a record fur us and we are awaiting the results of two student entries into a competition that is only held at the state-level and we should know by next week if that will be added to our total,” Maddie Everett, Palmerton FBLA president, said. “It was a great opportunity for us to host the regional conference as we had eight schools here competing from across Carbon and Monroe counties.”

Success is nothing new for Palmerton’s chapter, which has grown to one of the top in the state on an annual basis. Last year, 10 students placed in the top four of their competition category at the state conference and earned an automatic invitation to nationals in Chicago.

“We recently completed our application for the state market share award, which is the percentage of your school enrollment that is participating in FBLA,” treasurer Ethan Jones said. “We are at 21.1% with 103 paid members out of our 488 students. That is a really good number and we expect to be in the top ten again this year. In 2022, we placed fifth in the state and in 2020, we placed seventh.”

Points are also currently being tabulated for the William H. Selden Outstanding Chapter award at the state level. Palmerton finished sixth in 2022.

“Points are accrued for chapter activities and our overall involvement at both state and national events such as webinars and alumni activities,” Cody Walkowiak, Palmerton FBLA vice-president said.

The Bombers are also in the running for a national honor that is in its second year, the Champion Chapter.

Champion Chapter is a series of membership engagement-focused challenges that chapters may complete for national recognition. By completing activities, chapters accrue points. Completing activities across four sections will result in Champion Chapter recognition, with a banner for the school award case.

“We achieved bronze level status last year and we are on track this year to achieve gold,” Everett said.

Regional winners

First place winners for Palmerton at the regional conference included Molly Tessitore, accounting; Maddie Everett and Madeline Wentz, broadcast journalism; Serenity Hamilton; client service; Emma Snyder, computer applications; Jared Reinhard, database design and application; Taylor Pengelly, graphic design; Kira Hauser, health care administration; Ella Baumgardt, Emma Martinez and Megan Matsko, hospitality and event management.

Also, Riley Burke, insurance and risk management; Kayla Cooper, introduction to business communication; Sofia DeAngelis and Hannah Diener, introduction to business presentation; Shane Bollinger, introduction to business procedures; Ruby Walters, introduction to marketing concepts; Isabella Catania and Cassie Hager, introduction to social media strategies; Ethan Jones, personal finance.

TJ Taglieri, political science; Nicole Kester and Cheyenne Whitaker, publication design; Logan Connelly and Fiona Winger, sales presentation; Patrick Trotter, securities and investments; Sonia Dias and Kaitlyn Heimbach, social media strategies; Riley Fallon, Tyler Hager and Owen Hibell, sports and entertainment management; and Karsten Rolape, UX design.