The Honesdale High School/Wayne Highlands School District’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Chapter has had a successful year, in fact, our most successful year to-date! This year, our chapter has grown to over 60 members. All these students have had an excellent opportunity to learn more about the world of business firsthand and gain real-world experience. Based on fantastic student engagement and hard work, our club is fortunate to have 40 students attending the FBLA State Conference in April, in Hershey, PA. These students have spent countless hours preparing for test- and performance-based events and have hopes to do well enough to advance to the National Conference in Anaheim, California, in June.

Beyond competitive events, many of our students have explored new community and school service opportunities. Last year, three FBLA students started Motherly Grace with local business owner, Gretchen Eifert. The project continues this year and helps struggling local families and their children. Since inception, the committee has raised over $3,000 which has been used to purchase diapers, wipes and other baby essentials. In addition, they have run a number of drives asking for gently used baby items. So far, they have helped 134 families and 184 children in the immediate community and beyond.

Additionally, two of our students have partnered with It Takes A Village, a community organization that works to benefit local children and families throughout the Wayne Highlands School District. The project helps provide food, school supplies and warm clothes for children in need.

Within the school, our students have partnered with our local community bank, The Dime Bank, to offer a Financial Literacy Reality Fair for rising high school seniors. Led by three FBLA students but supported by the entire club, the Reality Fair aims to teach students about practical financial skills and the importance of saving money to better prepare them for the real world. This is accomplished by having nearly 60 community members come to the school to engage in an FDIC authored simulation. Students receive a random career profile, savings overview, credit score and similar financial criteria. Students then visit various booths titled as “housing,” “car ownership,” “healthcare” and the like, making financial decisions and seeing the impact on their overall financial portfolio. Because of this project, the organizers have seen about a 90% increase in financial literacy test scores after the students have gone through the fair.

Much of what our Honesdale FBLA chapter accomplishes would not be possible without the help of local businesses. For two years, our chapter has partnered with The Dime Bank, The Honesdale National Bank, The Wayne Bank, and accountants from Beck, Gogolski and Co. as well as various other supporters. These groups have been incredibly generous in helping us to offset the cost of our state conference in Hershey. Because of these companies and individuals, many students who could not afford the state conference now have the opportunity to advance their business knowledge.

Ultimately, none of this would be possible without the support of the Wayne Highlands School District’s administrative team and our committed school board. At every turn, our school’s leadership team is there offering support and encouragement as we endeavor on our various goals. Dr. Peter Jordan, Honesdale High School principal, demonstrates his understanding of the value and positive student impact that FBLA offers. Similarly, we are very fortunate to have a committed group of advisors in Mrs. Laura Lockwood, Mrs. Courtney Krajkovich and Ms. Lauren Cawley who consistently show their dedication to our chapter.

As you can see, many students’ lives have been impacted by participation in this club. Good luck to all our students as they travel to Hershey in April. Go Hornets!