Mount Pleasant High School Junior Connor Reese earned second place in journalism at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference held in San Antonio this past weekend.

Reese, the son of Chris and Leslie Reese, qualified to compete at the National Leadership Conference schedule for June 29-July 2 in Anaheim, Calif. He will compete against hundreds of other students from around the nation.

Reese was one of 36 MPHS students who qualified for the state conference. Students competed in a variety of events ranging from tests, skilled events and speaking contests.

Also at the state contest, Junior Abigail Amerson, the daughter of Kevin and Leslie Amerson, was recognized on stage as a Who’s Who Award recipient. Shew was nominated for the award by the MPHS Chapter based on her years of participation in FBLA activities, contributions to local chapter and projects, participation in other activities.

Sophomore Nuvia Chavez also placed sixth in Future Business Leader. Other finalists for MPHS in their respective events were Husban Shahid, Sanum Shahid and Jose Liera in Banking and Financial Systems and Annie Le, Maritza Zambrano and Blanca Antolin in Digital Video Production.

“I am very proud of Connor and all the hard work he put in to prepare for him state,” FBLA Sponsor and Journalism teacher John Whitten said. “This was the first year for journalism to be part of FBLA competition, which didn’t give Reese much preparation to pull from past contests. We leaned heavily on lots of research and knowledge learned in the classroom That work has paid off and allowed him to compete on the national level.

Mr. Whitten added, “I was proud to see Abigail get recognized for her hard work in FBLA. She is the vice president of our chapter and served as a voting delegate at state along with junior Dylan Ingram.

“All of the students can be proud of their success to reach state. They did their best under some trying circumstances as they worried about friends and coaches affected by the bus accident.”

Pictured:  National qualifier Connor Reese (right) with MPHS Journalism teacher John Whitten.

Abigail Amerson (right) receives her Who’s Who in FBLA Award on the stage at the state FBLA Leadership Conference.

FBLA Students at State Conference