Pictured from left are Canastota FBLA members Ariel Orcutt, Derick Trost, Hafeezah Lewis, Paul Gregoris, Vanessa Loomis and Advisor, Elizabeth Garofalo.
Canastota High School
(Canastota, NY- April 2013
) From April 10 to 12, nearly 600 members of the Future Business Leaders of America gathered at Rochester’s Riverside Convention Center for their annual State Leadership Conference.
Canastota High School’s chapter of FBLA sent six members to the conference. Throughout the three-day event, more than 20 students from New York State FBLA campaigned and gave speeches in an effort to seek positions available on the incoming state officer team. Student candidates were required to give speeches, caucus, and answer any questions of the voting delegation.
Canastota sophomore, Derick Trost, was elected to serve as next year’s New York State Vice President for District 7. In this capacity, Derick will be responsible for coordinating all of the activities of the district, which includes Madison, Oneida, and Herkimer counties.
Jacob Fleming, Canastota High School sophomore, finished his term as State District 7 Vice President and delivered his farewell speech on Thursday evening. Fleming advanced to the national level in two events finishing third in Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure and second in Introduction to Technology Concepts. Trost, who prepared the local chapter annual report, received first place recognition and will compete this summer in Aneheim as well.
Paul Gregoris and Ariel Orcutt competed in Battle of the Chapters where they finished in second place.
The Canastota Chapter nominated Mrs. Mary Reina from Frankfort for the prestigious honor of being named FBLA’s Business Person of the Year. Reina was selected to receive this award and was honored at the Awards Ceremony on Friday.
The Canastota chapter also received recognition for several chapter participation awards that were presented during the conference. The following were awarded:
State Program of Work Awards
Community Service Award – First Place
Publicity Award – Second Place
Membership Madness and Earlybird recognition
At the conference, the Canastota Chapter was recognized as one of the top five outstanding chapters in the state – receiving fourth place recognition for their efforts during the year. New York State FBLA is composed of nearly 5000 members in 170 chapters.
Canastota members are looking forward to attending the National Leadership Conference being held this June in Anaheim, California. Fundraising activities are being planned to raise funds for this trip. We hope you will support the Canastota Chapter at their upcoming chicken barbeque being held at the school on May 21.