The Mount Pleasant ISD Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Middle Level, grades 5th – 8th, competed at the State Leadership Conference in Galveston on April 10-12. Thirty-eight MPISD middle level students representing Wallace Middle School and Mount Pleasant Junior High made the trip to Galveston with all 38 placing in their events, 28 qualifying for Nationals, and 4 national alternates.

National Qualifiers, their events and their places at state include:

Annual Chapter Activities Presentations: 8th graders Jayden Baker, Emily Crabb, Blakely Garrett (1st)

Career Exploration: 6th grader Robby James (2nd)

Career Research: 7th grader Jaliyah Brown (1st)

Critical Thinking: 5th graders Piper Martin & Genesis Ortiz (2nd)

Community Service Presentation: 8th graders Leslie Hernandez & Yolette Mata (1st)

Elevator Speech: 7th grader Sage Jordan (1st)

Exploring Business Issues: 7th graders Cassidy Burns, Annie Crabb, Abi Verner (1st)

Exploring Computer Science: 7th grader Ian Crockett (1st)

Exploring Technology: 8th grader Isabella Furnish (1st)

FBLA Concepts: 7th graders Zoe Zuniga (1st) & April Lozano (2nd)

FBLA Mission & Pledge: 5th grader Daniel Crabb (2nd)

Leadership: 7th grader Emilee Martinez (2nd)

Marketing Mix Challenge: 7th graders Aubree Hawkins & Kaiser Sheppard, & 6th grader Braylee Noguera (1st)

Multimedia & Website Development: 6th graders Kelvin Garcia, Sebastian Otero, Tony Ramirez (1st)

Video Game Challenge: 6th graders Jimmy Aguilar & Tristan Kirkland & 5th grader Nathaniel Martinez (1st)

Four students placed 3rd and are alternates to Nationals including Hudson Rider in Career Exploration, Sebastian Sheppard in Digital Citizenship, Jaretzy Villeda in FBLA Concepts, and Elijah Avila in Financial Literacy. Rounding out the placements for FBLA Middle Level members were Lylee Gallardo, 4th in Career Exploration, Ayleen Rodriguez, 5th in Career Exploration, Cristian De La Hoya, 4th in Digital Citizenship, Chloe Mancera, 4th in FBLA Concepts, John Chamness, 4th in Leadership, and Melissa Rivera, 5th in Leadership.

In addition, seventh-grader, Kaiser Sheppard, was named Who’s Who and seventh-grader, Sage Jordan, was named Outstanding Middle Level for the Mount Pleasant Middle Level chapter. Chapter Advisor, Dana Armstrong, was named Texas Middle Level Advisor of the Year. And the Mount Pleasant chapter was recognized as the largest middle level chapter in attendance with 38 members competing at state.

Mount Pleasant ISD FBLA Middle Level was chartered at Wallace Middle School in the fall of 2018 with the help of Matthew Armstrong, 2018-19 MPHS FBLA President and Texas FBLA Area 6 State Vice-President, along with the MPHS FBLA advisor, John Whitten. In 2021 the group expanded to include members from Mount Pleasant Junior High.

The FBLA National Leadership Conference is set for June 27-July 2, 2024 in Orlano, FL. MPISD FBLA Middle Level advisors are Armstrong and Daisy Banda.

Photos:

1: Sage Jordan, Outstanding Middle Level award recipient

2: Kaiser Sheppard, Who’s Who award recipient

3: MPISD FBLA Middle Level

4: FBLA Middle Level Advisor, Dana Armstrong, receiving the Texas Middle Level Advisor of the Year award