Three LHS Students Win Titles At FBLA State Leadership Conference

LEMONT, IL — Lemont High School students placed among the top ten in 19 of 20 categories in which they were entered at the 2018 Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference, which was held in Springfield, on April 6-7. The school said the conference attracted more than 1,400 competitors from across the state. Lemont students combined to win three events, marking the sixth time in nine years the school has brought home multiple titles.

Competitors who finish among the top four in their respective categories earn the right to participate in the 2018 FBLA National Leadership Conference, which will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, this summer. According to the school, 10 Lemont students have earned the chance to compete at the national level after combining for seven top-four finishes.

Each of Lemont’s first-place finishers had won state titles in previous years. Seniors Martynas Juskelis (Securities & Investments) and Alex Paulius (Insurance & Risk Management) each won his third state championship, while junior Anna Mietus (Broadcast Journalism) won her second in as many years. The school said Juskelis and Paulius are the first Lemont students to win three FBLA state crowns..

According to the school, junior Matt Krueger was the state runner-up in Accounting I and senior Joe Kelly was third in Accounting II. Seniors Sean Haughey, Easton Tally and Matt Zima were third in Sports & Entertainment Management, while seniors Melissa Danilov and Agnes Zelvys placed fourth in Business Ethics.

Lemont’s FBLA chapter has won at least one state title in seven of the last nine years, and has captured multiple titles six times (2010 - three; 2011 - five; 2015 - three; 2016 - five; 2017 - four; 2018 - four).

Lemont’s other top-ten finishers included senior Andrew Kuziel (5th - Economics); seniors Nathan Barry, Andres De La Vega and Avyay Suri (5th - E-Business); juniors Alex Fugiel, Gavin Pawell and Arijus Trakymas (5th - Web Design); seniors Reece Graham (6th - Computer Problem Solving) and Trevor Graham (6th - Health Care Administration); seniors Saher Rashid and Julie Stanwyck (6th - Public Service Announcement; 10th - Local Chapter Business Report); juniors Brett Abbott and Andrew Deuschle (6th - Entrepreneurship) and Ella Pelen and Briley Rakow (6th - Intro to Business Presentation); seniors Adam Fugiel and Sachan Shah (7th - Global Business); sophomores Abigail Belsan and Caroline Bukowski (7th - Hospitality Management); and junior Kirsten Kash (8th - Social Media Campaign).

Lemont’s FBLA chapter is sponsored by teacher John Aspel.

Photo provided by Lemont High School.