Just five minutes.
It took only five minutes for two Oconto Falls Future Business Leaders of America members to prove they were among the best in the nation at the FBLA National Leadership Conference. Five minutes, yes, but those final five minutes before the judges were a culmination of months of practice for Oconto Falls High School senior Brittany Russell and 2015 OFHS graduate Matthew VerVelde.
Russell placed second in Public Speaking II, and VerVelde was seventh in Help Desk at the national conference held from June 29-July 2 in Chicago.
“Top 10 in the nation is pretty amazing,” FBLA adviser Tracy Tate said. “It was a great trip, very successful, and we had some great results overall.”
Other national qualifiers from Oconto Falls High School were Holly Virtues, Alexa Barribeau and Corrina Romandine, competing in Partnership with Business, which incorporated their work with the Oconto Falls Senior Center; and Liza Leja and Mikaela Thomson, Business Presentation, which centered on the topic of identity theft. Virtues also competed in database and design. These students did not crack the Top 10 in their events.
VerVelde said the No. 1 goal at nationals is to be recognized on stage as a Top 10 finalist. It’s been Russell’s dream since she watched the awards ceremony as a freshman, thinking, “That’s so incredible! If I could do that one day …”
“Then to receive the award and be on stage at the awards ceremony was really special,” she said.
For Public Speaking II, Russell’s task was to build a five-minute talk around an FBLA goal. For a personal touch, she based her message on a Dr. Seuss quote she first came across at a swim meet: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
“I talked about how I’ve chosen to be a leader in FBLA and in the community,” she said.
In April, Russell was elected to the office of 2015-2016 state FBLA vice president. She got a taste of what it means to be a state officer at nationals, attending meetings specifically for state leaders and meeting other state officers from around the country. As a senior, she plans to “dive in and do everything I can” during her final year in the organization, she said.
Public Speaking II is open to all high school students, while Public Speaking I is open to freshmen and sophomores only. Russell qualified for nationals last year when she placed first in the state in Public Speaking I but was unable to attend the national contest. This year she placed second at the state contest to advance to nationals.
VerVelde also made his second trip to the national contest; last year he competed in Cyber Security but was not a Top 10 finisher. His sophomore year, he competed in Networking Concepts and placed fourth at state, one place short of advancing to nationals.
He said the skills he developed in preparing for his first two competitions added to his success this year, as did the experience he gained from running a small business with his brother Jacob, a 2013 OFHS graduate. Together they operate Vertech — fixing computers, designing websites and providing remote support.
“We use some of those (Help Desk) skills working with customers every day, so it has a practical application,” he said.
At nationals, VerVelde completed a 100-question test to assess his knowledge of solving technology issues and dealing with customers over the phone. He placed in the Top 15 to qualify for the finals.
In his scenario, he took the role of a new manager at a store selling high-end technology products. The store was experiencing long wait times for support, and customers felt pressured into buying products. VerVelde was allotted 10 minutes to prepare his presentation, then five minutes to present his solution to the judges.
“I had to quickly know the technology that I could use to cut back on the wait time they were having, but also I had to design a plan that customer service people could work through,” he said.
To prepare for the contest, he completed practice tests and worked through different scenarios with Tate, FBLA students and high school staff members.
“We had no idea what the situation would be, so we basically did a mock run-through of what the presentation in front of the judges would be,” he said.
Through the process, he developed a “script” to follow when dealing with customers.
“I remember in the beginning, I kind of winged it. … Getting a script down really helped me,” he said.
For VerVelde, a highlight of the conference — aside from the awards presentation — was the opportunity to interact with students from around the country, plus China and Canada.
“It was just really neat connecting with a lot of people, seeing their background and how they’re different from you, yet still doing a lot of the stuff you like to do,” he said.
VerVelde plans to enroll at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for his general education credits then transfer to UW-Madison to pursue a degree in business administration and electrical engineering.
