Dunkin Donuts sure generates a lot of business from FBLA. The business of eating donuts at 7:20 can persuade anyone to come to school. Every other Wednesday, members of FBLA come together to do just that. But other than their love for donuts, what brings the members of FBLA together?

FBLA stands for Future Business Leaders of America, a national organization of chapters, or groups, from middle school to adult life. The  high school FBLA division has over 200,000 students in it. Students compete in competitions all over the country, and have the possibility to get scholarships from the organization.

“It’s a student career oriented organization, the largest and oldest one nationally,” Elizabeth Gilbert, senior and FBLA president, said. “We learn about and explore different topics about business. We also do a lot of leadership development.”

Currently, there are five leadership positions in the club, positions which will help students in any career they choose, according to Shannon Fermanich, business teacher and FBLA advisor.

“I think it’s a great club for students to join. The students do a lot of the work themselves,” Fermanich, said. “The leaders, they prepare for the meetings, they have executive board meetings, they’re developing their own leadership skills.”

The students that hold the positions were elected by members of the club. Their meetings may require them to make many decisions regarding the club, but Gilbert has taken her leadership training into her own hands.

“The best conference that I went to was the Institute for Leaders which no one from our school had ever gone to,” Gilbert said. “I wanted to go so badly that I got on the train and went by myself to Chicago to get to the conference. The atmosphere is totally different [than at school]. You talk to people you don’t know straight off the bat.”

Although the club’s main focus is business, members do not have to be interested in pursuing it to join the club.

“I honestly think they [people who are not interested in business] should try it,” Ashley Knutter, freshman FBLA member, said. “It’s like if you are trying a new food for the first time. They shouldn’t judge the business world.”

Although FBLA is a national organization, the LZHS chapter runs just like any other club. Fundraising to increase their budget, running for office, and changes to organization. This year, FBLA is functioning with a brand new sponsor, and the transition is taking some getting used to, according to Gilbert.

“As a first year anything, there’s changes. There’s differences. Everyone’s different, everyone leads a different way. As a first year teacher here, and as an advisor, I wouldn’t say it’s rough, it’s just different,” Fermanich said. “In the world, you embrace this because you’re going to run into different people and different experiences all the time.”

With FBLA’s former advisor leaving, the structure of the club has shifted, with more emphasis put on the leaders, according to Gilbert, who has been on FBLA since her sophomore year.

“When I was a sophomore, we had a president, vice president, secretary, and a treasurer, and only really the president did anything. The rest of them used it for their college applications, they weren’t really involved. Mr. Madden did a lot of the stuff that you need to do to be a club for us,” Gilbert said. “I was ready to put [my ideas] into action when I was elected, but he let us know that he was leaving, and I didn’t know what he had done in the background. I wish so badly that Mr. Madden had stayed so I could go above and beyond with FBLA without having to worry about the backbone of it. It’s really important to have an advisor that is the backbone.”

In between all the changes, the objective of the club remains the same: Competition. FBLA gets to travel to competitions and conferences all over the country.  

“The competitive season started in January for us with the Northern Area Conference. There’s presentation events and test events. We’re ranked and given awards. Some schools like ours set rules on what you have to place to move on to the State competition,” Gilbert said. “We will bring students to State for free if they get in the top quarter of their event. To go to nationals, the FBLA organization determines that you have to be in the top three percent of your event.”

The opportunity to get awards and go to nationals is only the beginning of what the club has to offer. FBLA is also a great way to get involved in school, according to current members.

“Even if you don’t go into business, business is a part of every profession. There are events that relate to many different career paths such as law, medicine, and agriculture,” Alex Li, junior treasurer, said. “A lot of schools in our area have highly competitive chapters and the kids there really get to develop their interpersonal and leadership skills through FBLA and I would like to bring more of that to Lake Zurich High School.”

FBLA has traveled to Texas, Anaheim, Nashville and Chicago, and they plan on traveling to Atlanta this year. Traveling, growing as a leader, and increasing business knowledge is a great part of the club, according to Gilbert, but what is even better is knowing that there is no pressure involved.

“It gives you a chance to work hard for something that’s not graded. There’s no pressure attached to it. It gives you a chance to work towards awards and be recognized for the things you’re learning,” Gilbert said. “It’s a nice way to connect with people who are interested and hard working and people who want to explore things just like you, without the pressure of normal school days.”

The no pressure environment translates to the connections and friendships made in the club.

“I think FBLA is a great opportunity to go out and expose yourself to different types of people who like to do different activities than you,” Grace Kinsey, sophomore and FBLA historian, said. “Personally, I think that the diversity of interests in an organization like FBLA is almost unmatched in any other club because FBLA itself covers so many more fields than just business. You meet people who are really into sports, or science, or art, and everything in between.”

Members of FBLA have qualified to State and will be traveling to the city during Spring Break.