The Pleasant Valley Future Business Leaders of America club has been busy this month competing virtually in the national competition.

Club adviser Denise Hopely said the competition includes online tests, and in some cases presentations and group projects. About 100 students compete in each category with about 5,000 students competing at the state level and 15,000 at the national level.

“It’s pretty spectacular … the best of the best, in the state competing,” she said.

Graduating senior Jordan McGrath leads the group with four trips to nationals and his second time as a state champion, two years in a row. No one in the history of the school has ever gone to nationals four times, Hopely said.

“It was a big goal to do that,” he said.

McGrath competed in three computer-related topics: Introduction to Information Technology, Cyber Security and Network Design. He has plans to major in computer science at East Stroudsburg University in the fall.

He said FBLA has given him the confidence to join several organizations and compete in several competitions.

“It was the starting point of everything,” he said.

Jaxon Havens, who will be a senior next year, came in second in the state competition in the journalism category. This is his first time competing in the national competition.

“I’ve always been very competitive,” he said. “With FBLA, I’m really glad I’ve been able to channel that into the community.”

Zachary Dooner placed fourth in the state competition. It’s his second time to states and first to nationals.

“I mostly thought of FBLA as a service organization, when I first joined it. I didn’t expect to find so many different things from our leadership to our competitive tests,” he said. “I really enjoyed the diversity of things you can do in FBLA.”

A freshman, Maria Saitta placed fifth in the Introduction to FBLA category for Pleasant Valley. This is her second time at state and first time at nationals, because she started in FBLA in middle school.

“I’m really honored to be going to nationals,” she said. “I really love (FBLA). I like helping out in the community.

She said the knowledge she has gained in FBLA will be beneficial to her in college no matter what she decides to study.

“Even if I don’t do business, I know I’m going to do great,” she said.

Also among the accomplished students is freshman Lishka Soto-Semidey. She received the highest achievement award in Business Administration at the National level. This category includes four major components with several platforms, Hopely said.

Soto-Semidey said she got involved with FBLA because she saw a sign in the hallway at school about it and found out community service was part of it.

“I want to keep doing community service. I like doing that,” she said. “I like helping people. I like seeing people’s faces light up when I help them to do something.”

In the community

The Pleasant Valley FBLA also stands out in its work in the community. The club has taken first place in the state out of about 280 schools with 9,400 hours of community service. This is the second year in the row for this award, Hopely said.

Part of that achievement is due to Olivia Karas, who put in 943.5 hours in community service this year, placing her in second place in the state. Tyler Moore also earned recognition with a sixth-place finish in states in community service.

Karas said she first got involved with volunteering as a child, when she asked friends and family to give her things for the animals instead of gifts for her. Since then, she has volunteered at the West End Food Pantry, nursing homes, church activities, tutoring and school events.

“It makes me feel good to donate my time,” she said. “It sparks this joy in me.”

One day, Karas hopes to be a teacher or a director of a nonprofit organization.

Charity project

They also won first place in the state for the National FBLA Charity Project. They raised $12,200 for the American Heart Association, Hopely said. In fact, they have placed first for seven of the past eight years. The top fundraiser was Briella Kish. She knows her target audience: flowers for her family and their friends and doughnuts for her peers.

“I really like to market things,” she said. “I look toward the group of people who are most interested in purchasing these fundraisers.”

Another top fundraiser is Tyler Moore.

“I really like to give back through community service, through fundraising,” Moore said, especially about the American Heart Association since it is one of the leading causes of death. “It’s really important that we do these fundraisers in order to provide the money, to provide the resources that are necessary.”

A senior next school year, Moore plans to one day major in political science and go to law school. He has dreams of being a politician. Right now, he is president of his class, and next year’s president of FBLA.

The club also includes Emma Barrett, who is going to nationals for a second time, and Viktoriya Georgieva, a junior, is a 500-hour winner for volunteer service.

The club earned a third-place finish in states for Outstanding Chapter and national recognition with the William Seldon Gold Seal award, Hopely said.

Georgieva served as the club’s co-secretary this year. Taking on a leadership role wasn’t something she felt comfortable doing, but she does now.

“When I was ready to step up, I knew it was the right path to take,” she said.

“These kids are tremendous. No matter what barriers are in their way, they just keep going,” Hopely said.