Toms River Students Show Off Business Leadership Skills At NJ Contest

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Students from the Toms River Regional district took home honors at the Future Business Leaders of America state leadership conference last week, the district announced.

Future Business Leaders of America is a national organization geared to career and technical students that aims to prepare them "to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences," the organization's website says.

There are more than 230,000 middle school and high school members of Future Business Leaders of America across the country.

The Toms River student teams captured a first-place finish and several top 10 finishes. Here are the results for each school, from the district's announcement.

TOMS RIVER EAST

• Mason Kaleda and Jack Hesslein won 1st place in the Business Plan competition and qualified for the national competition in Atlanta, Georgia. Their plan was for an e-waste refurbishment and recycling business.
• Sofia Manzo finished in the top 10 in the Job Interview competition. The interview was in two parts for an HR internship.
• In addition, Michael Bruno, Joseph Scala, and Joseph Rome competed in the Financial Plan category and Maxwell Bell competed in Public Service Announcement.

TOMS RIVER SOUTH

• Joshua Rhine competed in Coding and Programming, with an app he developed called Rhino Roll Call that would track student participation in sports and club activities.
• Emma Italiano competed in Digital Animation, creating an animated advertisement for the iPhone 14.
• Logan Redgrave and Declan Sennick competed in E-Business, creating a bed and breakfast in Gore Mountain, targeted at local skiers and adventure enthusiasts.

TOMS RIVER NORTH

• Natalie Rapciewicz and Alexa Sousa won second place in Sales Presentation.
• Andreas Psillos finished in the top 10 in the Supply Chain Management competition.
• Gabriella Kostova and Kaitlyn Rizzo competed in Social Media Strategies.
• Lana Hayes, Angela Pontipiedra, and Shahaan Gurm competed in Broadcast Journalism.
• In addition, Toms River North's team was awarded the Gold Seal Chapter of Merit, and the "Higher with Attire" Community Service Project Award. The students collected 427 donations of business clothing from staff and community and provided them to Catholic Charities Providence House and Just Believe Boutique for the homeless and disenfranchised in Ocean County.
• The North team took fifth place in Passport of Progress, which is recognition for middle school outreach, charity fundraiser benefiting Ocean's Harbor House, and volunteering with Hope Sheds Light, and third place in the Community Service Challenge for doing more than 50 hours of community service.
• Lastly, Toms River North's club received national recognition as a "Champion Charter" for what FBLA defines as exceptional membership engagement on focused challenges. Toms River North's chapter participated in more than half of the proposed comprehensive team activities; there were 14 New Jersey chapters recognized in this category among 500 nationwide.