Two members of the Metter High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) organization recently
traveled to Anaheim, CA, to compete at the National Leadership Conference.
Xing Lin and Jessica Spaid both qualified at the State Leadership Conference in March for the national
competition in June. Donations from the local community and civic organizations transformed dreams of attending the National Leadership Conference into reality.
Jessica Spaid, along with two other Georgia delegates, competed in the national Entrepreneurship team competition. After arriving in California, the three team members took an online objective test collaboratively.
After achieving a high score on the objective test, the team advanced to the top ten in the nation. Each team in the top ten then had to compete in the performance round. The team members were given a situation and then presented their solution to a panel of judges. They were judged on the actual solution, public speaking skills and their ability to work as a team in the presentation. The team went on to place ninth in the nation and was rewarded with trophies and checks from the National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation.
Xing Lin competed in the Spreadsheet Applications national competition. Before travelling to California, Xing completed a skills test where he demonstrated his knowledge in Microsoft Excel. He was required to create spreadsheets
that performed various functions. Then, once in California, he completed an objective test. These two scores were combined to place him in the top ten in the nation in Spreadsheet Applications. Xing placed sixth in the nation and was rewarded with a trophy.While in Anaheim, California, Jessica and Xing were two of 7,864 national delegates at the National Leadership Conference. They were able to experience local attractions including Hollywood, Los Angeles, the Santa Monica pier and beach, Downtown Disney, and Anaheim itself. They were accompanied by MHS FBLA advisers Brenda Deal and Pamela Durrence.

 Courtesy of Metter Advertiser