Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct a statement reguarding students advancing to the national competition.

Community R-6 senior Matthew Utterback has been competing at the district and state levels with the Future Business Leaders of America throughout his entire high school career.

In April, he will compete at his last state competition alongside two first-year members, Natali Sommer and Sophie Fennewald.

Becky McCurdy, a business teacher and FBLA advisor at Community, has had students who compete at the district level all four years that she has served as the advisor, some of whom advance to state, but she hasn't seen anyone go to nationals yet.

“I'm hopeful that this year is our year,” she said.

Through FBLA, members can choose to compete in a variety of competitions ranging from objective tests to performance events — some individual and some team-based. Competitors sign up during the fall semester and begin preparing for districts. Those who qualify advance to the state competition, which is held in Springfield, Missouri.

Recently, at the district tournament in Hannibal, Utterback secured his spot at state when he placed fourth in Personal Finance and fifth in Cybersecurity, both objective tests. He also competed in the performance-based Broadcast Journalism category, where he and his teammate, Zeeva Steffen, were awarded third place. Steffen and Utterback were named as alternates for the competition should another team drop out.

Sommer, a freshman, secured her spot at state after taking home first place in the performance-based category Introduction to Public Speaking.

“As a freshman, her winning, it was pretty amazing,” McCurdy said. “When we were watching the awards come in, I knew that she was capable and I got a little more nervous than I should have waiting on first place to get announced.”

Fennewald, a sophomore, also came home with a medal for placing third in Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure, an objective test.

“I was pretty confident in my knowledge of parliamentary procedure, but I wasn't sure how knowledgeable others would be and whether I would end up getting a medal or not,” she said.

McCurdy likes to describe FBLA as the “business FFA” due to the number of similarities between the two clubs — a parallel that allowed Fennewald to place in her category without too much preparation.

“I'm an FFA kid, so I'm quite knowledgeable in parliamentary procedure and I led a state conduct team last year in FFA,” Fennewald said. “Jumping into parliamentary procedure in FBLA was quite in my element, and I really enjoyed taking the test, but before I go to state, there is definitely a lot I need to learn.”

Parliamentary procedure, as Fennewald describes it, is the steps taken throughout a meeting to ensure it is being run correctly, the rules are being followed, the minority is getting a say and the conversation remains germane and orderly.

Before taking the test at the state level, Fennewald said she will need to learn all of the FBLA bylaws because they were such a significant part of the district test.

Utterback said he prefers objective tests over performative events because he likes the security of knowing there is one right answer, while performances are scored with a rubric.

Similarly, McCurdy said it was exciting to have a student going to state in the public speaking category because very few students choose that event.

“It was really cool to have someone so excited and energetic to do that competition and then to watch her get first was a highlight,” she said.

Sommer delivered a three-and-a-half-minute speech about social media smarts and how teenagers can use social media safely — a topic that initially didn’t interest her.

“I was mainly focused on how teenagers, when they use social media, should be respectful to others and themselves,” she said. “
They should think about their future before posting and who might see the post or if it will still represent who they want to be in a couple of years and how you can strive to create a positive online presence and such a world of negativity.”

Sommer’s preparations for her competition winning performance included completely memorizing her entire speech — not using notecards is worth extra points at competition.

Reflecting on the last four years, Utterback said he recommends getting involved in FBLA because it provided an opportunity to discover what he was good at and where he could excel after graduation.

“I think it’s a good career opportunity, and it goes on to college,” Sommer said, echoing his sentiments. “When I'm in college, I feel like it will not only look good on my transcripts, but to be in college FBLA and compete at the collegiate level.”

Both Sommer and Fennewald competed at the introductory level in their categories against other freshmen and sophomores, but they will be teaming up with Utterback, and two other FBLA members who have not been chosen yet, to compete in the straight-to-state Parliamentary Procedure team event.