They were among more than 1,800 of America’s best and brightest college students who traveled to Maryland for the opportunity to win more than $110,000 in cash awards during the conference. Participants enhanced their business skills, expanded their networks and participated in 60 business and business-related competitive events.
Representing Northeast, Jesse Wiseman, Homer, placed second in both the networking concepts and cybersecurity categories. The networking concepts competition tested students’ knowledge of general networking terminology, specific network operating system concepts, open systems interconnection (OSI) model and functionality, network topologies, equipment for network access and network security. The cybersecurity test covered an array of attacks, including viruses, spam and spyware, as well as network security, email security, intrusion detection, public key, authentication, disaster recovery, physical security, cryptography, forensics security and cybersecurity policy.
The team of Hunter Bergman, Neligh, Zaine Gallagher, Norfolk, and Shayla Kramer, Norfolk, took seventh place in the community service project category. Bergman, Gallagher and Shanae Baker, Petersburg, earned seventh in the social media challenge competition. The Northeast chapter of PBL created #TraffickingStopswithMe, which featured the Set Me Free Project, a nonprofit dedicated to educating communities about human trafficking prevention. The effort raised funds for Set Me Free as well as the Sydney Loofe Memorial Scholarship.
Nebraska PBL members captured five first places at the National Leadership Conference, and the state chapter brought home 41 Top Ten finishes. As a state, Nebraska finished fourth among all states competing. A number of members earned a cash prize along with their respective placing.
The awards were part of a comprehensive national competitive events program sponsored by FBLA-PBL that recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas. For many students, the competitive events are the capstone activity of their academic careers. In addition to competitions, students immersed themselves in interactive workshops, visited an information-packed exhibit hall, and heard from motivational keynotes on a broad range of business topics.
Phi Beta Lambda focuses on developing leadership, communication and team skills in its members as well as giving members an opportunity to meet and network with other PBL members at the local, state and national levels. PBL places an emphasis on helping students transition to the business world. There are approximately 11,000 PBL members on college campuses across the country.
The Northeast students were accompanied to the conference by Carissa Kollath, director of student activities. Angie Shaffer, business instructor, serves as club advisor.
2018 PBL National Leadership Conference: Cybersecurity
1st - Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, MO (Allison Hawkins)
2nd - Northeast Community College, Norfolk, NE (Jesse Wiseman)
3rd - Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (David Berdik)
2018 PBL National Leadership Conference: Networking Concepts
1st - University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (Mitch McAfee)
2nd - Northeast Community College, Norfolk, NE (Jesse Wiseman)
3rd - Piedmont Technical College, Greenwood, SC (John Barton)
2018 PBL National Leadership Conference: Community Service Project
1st - Central Carolina Community College, Sanford, NC (Zachary Gordon, Alexis Walker, Cherie Kelly)
2nd - George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (Tiffany Dawson, Lucien Wobembong, Ahmet Dalgic)
3rd - Snow College, Ephraim, UT, (Kendall Smith, Kendra Moultrie, Rhett Richins)
4th - Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Wesson, MS (Ashleigh Castilaw)
5th - Lawson State Community College, Bessemer, AL (Jennifer America)
6th - South Georgia Technical College, Americus, GA (Alicia English)
7th - Northeast Community College, Norfolk, NE (Hunter Bergman, Zaine Gallagher, Shayla Kramer)
8th - Heartland Community College, Normal, IL (Lauren O’Donnell, Truong Luu)
9th - North Arkansas College, Harrison, AR (Jennifer Boucher, Brandy Gatlin, Casey Dean)
2018 PBL National Leadership Conference: Social Media Challenge
1st - Catawba College, Salisbury, NC (Malen Eiriksdottir, Emily Najar, Regan Nolan)
2nd - University of Missouri, Columbia, MO (Amber Raub, Emily Hoerchler, Collette Pippin)
3rd - University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (Amelia Alberts, Marc Flecha, My Le Ha)
4th - East Central Community College, Decatur, MS (Alexus Patrick, Abby Smith)
5th - Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA (Emily Sutton, Aislinn Speranza, Shelby Trumbo)
6th - Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Floyd, GA (Byron Campos Gomez)
7th - Northeast Community College, Norfolk, NE (Shanae Baker, Hunter Bergman, Zaine Gallagher)
8th - University of Charleston, Charleston, WV (Karissa Hudnall)
9th - Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Perkinston, MS (Becca Dubuisson, Anna Rodgers)
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About FBLA-PBL, Inc.
Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc., the premier student business organization, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with a quarter million members and advisers in over 6,500 active middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Its mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs. The association is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. For more information, visit fbla-pbl.org.
PHOTO ID: (l to r) Jesse Wiseman, Zaine Gallagher, Hunter Bergman, Shanae Baker, Shayla Kramer.