Records are meant to be broken.

For the second year in a row, Palmerton Area High School’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter continued to do just that.

After posting its best membership total, 111 students, in 2019-20, Palmerton is sending its largest number of qualifiers to the national FBLA competition this year.

“Our kids deserve a lot of credit because it is hard to stay excited when things are so different,” Palmerton FBLA co-adviser Kerry Palumbo said. “Our students are really overachievers and they normally participate in so many different clubs and organizations. A lot of those groups couldn’t run this year because of COVID-19, so FBLA was one of their few opportunities. They kept working hard and it has paid off tremendously.”

So far, 11 students have qualified for nationals by placing fourth in their categories at the state FBLA conference, held virtually for the second consecutive year. Eight others placed in the top 10 and could still get the call for nationals, for which testing will be held June 24-July 2.

Leading the way were freshmen Maddie Everett and Madeline Wentz, who finished first in “Intro To Social Media Strategy.” The duo had to create a strategy they would use to help increase the school’s influence through three different social media platforms. The team had done well at the regional level, but finishing first in the state came as a surprise.

“I did think we might come in the top 10, but I definitely did not expect us to qualify for nationals, let alone win first place,” Wentz said. “The first thing I did was message Maddie about how proud and excited I was and then I ran to tell my parents because I was so excited. It was shocking for me because Maddie and I are only freshmen and this is the first time we ever really did anything like this.”

Wentz and Everett researched statistics for what platforms were best to engage with its audience, showed what content they would post, what times they would post it and why it was significant.

Everett said she felt intimidated going into the event, because it was one the school had never participated in before. Watching the results, she wondered if the team had made the top 10?

“When I saw our names pop up in first place I was filled with excitement and couldn’t really comprehend what was going on,” Everett said. “I would have never thought that I would have made it to nationals as a freshman, so it makes me proud of myself for being able to come this far in the competition.”

Other automatic national qualifiers include CJ Kern (second) and Erin Kistler (fourth) in “Computer Applications”; Chris Walkowiak (second) in “Computer Problem Solving”; Dylan Bollinger, Jarret Silvius and Madix Marlatt (second) in “International Business”; Marissa Walck (third) in “Introduction to Business Procedures”; Gina Laviolette (fourth) in “Database Design & Applications”; and Megan Serfass (fourth) in “Spreadsheet Applications.”

Other top 10 finishers included Matt Yurkunas, Fiona Winger, Brianna Muffley, Ariella DiNaro-Ransel and Taylor Pengelly, Logan Connelly, and Sonia Dias and Kate Heimbach.

This year’s state FBLA conference was held virtually and nationals will follow that format as well.

“The biggest difference is we didn’t have the travel,” Palumbo said. “A majority of the kids really look forward to that trip to Hershey. They leave school for three days, which they get to spend with 5,000 kids from across the state. It really is like a rock concert for academics, so to not have that experience is unfortunate.”

Palmerton’s FBLA program has been on the rise for several years. It placed ninth in the state for “Largest Chapter Membership” this year and received a Gold Seal Chapter of Merit Award.

Advisers credit much of the program’s success to word of mouth.

“Jen Danzeisen and I took over seven or eight years ago and I remember walking into that first state conference and we were like wide-eyed tourists,” Palumbo said.

“But we knew we wanted our students to be up on that stage getting these awards, and the program was slowly built up from there. It’s a credit to the kids. You don’t get someone coming in as a freshman to FBLA without other students telling them what their experience was and how it has helped them become more successful. Success breeds success, and that’s what we have seen with FBLA.”

That’s exactly how it played out for Wentz, who said she looked up to the students in FBLA while she was in junior high school.

“I wanted to be like them,” she said. “They always looked like they were having so much fun, and they looked like they truly enjoyed what they were doing in the club. So, when I got the opportunity to join when I became a freshman, I jumped at the opportunity, and I’m so glad I did, because I have honestly had such a fun time in this club, and I have met some amazing people through it.”

It was the drive to compete that led Everett to FBLA.

Now she has a chance to do just that at the national level.

“I joined not only to be the best of the best in the region, but to keep working hard to try and become the very best in the state,” she said. “The leadership skills and academic part of it also interested me. I knew that this academic club would help prepare me for future endeavors and give me a solid foundation of business skills.”