Heartland FBLA students attending the FBLA National Leadership Conference pictured L – R front row: Kaylee Goertzen, Siddalee Kliewer, Lydia Jahnke, Mia Hiebner. Back row: Ryan Hiebner, Austin Schmidt, Hendric Switzer, Brady Goertzen, Nicholas Thieszen
Heartland FBLA Press Release
Nine Heartland FBLA members attended the 2023-2024 FBLA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL, from June 29 to July 2nd.
Students attending the conference along with adviser James McCartney were: (Seniors) Kaylee Goertzen, Ryan Hiebner, Hendric Switzer, Nicholas Thieszen; (Juniors) Brady Goertzen, Lydia Jahnke, Siddalee Kliewer, and Austin Schmidt; (Sophomores) Mia Hiebner.
During our time in Orlando, we had the opportunity to enjoy new experiences as well as compete at the highest level FBLA has to offer in the U.S. Our first day in Orlando was an opportunity to go to SeaWorld with all of the Nebraska FBLA National Qualifiers and enjoy rides, animal attractions, and weather fluctuations you only receive in Florida. The first day of competition, our competitors had the day off and enjoyed some time exploring around International Drive throughout the day, and finished the evening at our FBLA Opening Session.
Day two, we rolled into competitions and competed at a high level while finishing the evening enjoying more of what Orlando had to offer in mini golf and cuisine. The third day of competitions we were off again and enjoyed a full day at Universal Studios where we were able to take in some more rides, live-action shows, character interactions, and for you Harry Potter fans out there, a stroll through Diagon Ally! We finished the evening with the other 16,000 competitors at Universal Studios and enjoyed some fireworks and a drone show.
On the last day of the conference, our competitors enjoyed an Uber ride to the East Coast to explore the Kennedy Space Center. We were able to walk through the famous Rocket Garden, as well as launch our minds into space in a VR rocket! A few students participated in the shuttle experience, where they could feel what it was like to travel in an Atlantis-style space shuttle, while others took a bus tour where they saw an active NASA facility and a few of their launch pads. We capped off the night with the Awards Ceremony.
We are pleased to announce that our Chapter President, Austin Schmidt, placed 8th in Economics and brought home a very nice award!
Congratulations to all members for a great conference!!
Austin Schmidt received his Economics award at the final ceremony.
