When the top Future Business Leaders of America students gather in Hershey each year, Palmerton has become a familiar name during awards time.

The Bombers rose to the top again in April, placing 10 students in the top four of the competition category, automatically qualifying them for a trip to nationals in Chicago in late June.

Bomber sophomore Cora Wentz had the highest finish, second place, in graphic design.

Other national qualifiers include Emma Martinez and Maddison Mahler, who finished third in broadcast journalism; Cheyenne Whittaker and Nichole Kester, who placed fourth in broadcast journalism; Kayle Stewart, who placed fourth in spreadsheets; Josh Merkel and Makenzie Long, who placed fourth in publication design; and Taylor Pengelly and Logan Connolly, who placed fourth in graphic design.

While the students have earned the right to represent their school at nationals, their families bear most of the cost of getting there.

“Right now we have three of the 10 students who are intending on going to Chicago, and I think one of the big reasons for that is the financial commitment that it takes,” Palmerton FBLA co-adviser Jennifer Danzeisen said. “We’re working to find sponsorships and we’ll do as much as we can internally to defray some of that cost, but it’s a tough pill to swallow because they have done so well and we really want them to be able to perform at the national level.”

Danzeisen and co-adviser Kerry Palumbo estimated the cost per student to attend nationals at $1,300, not including food while they are there.

“It’s been tough this year because FBLA usually offers a package deal that includes airfare and lodging, but this year the districts have been left to book everything themselves,” Danzeisen said.

Any businesses or individuals looking to provide sponsorship money for Palmerton’s national FBLA qualifiers can contact Danzeisen at jdanzeisen@palmerton.org. Palmerton school board members Earl and Danielle Paules pledged $1,000 from their Paules Metal Works business on Tuesday night.

Palmerton’s school board on Tuesday night approved $2,500 to pay for Brandyn Miller, who has also helped with the program, to head to Chicago as the district’s adviser/chaperone. While there, Miller will also be attending conferences and judging at least one of the FBLA competition categories. The district has given the FBLA club $8,000, an amount it is increasing to $11,000 next year, on an annual basis, but that money is usually spent on the state conference.

“What we’re asking the district to look at for the future is hopefully budget the cost for one adviser if we have up to 10 students going to a competition and two advisers if we have over 10,” Palumbo said. “The cost does vary each year depending on where the national conference is. When it was in Baltimore, the cost was probably around $700 per student because we were driving. Chicago, unfortunately, is one of the most expensive cities for FBLA.”

Continued success

Palmerton’s FBLA chapter has seen a 124% membership growth over the past decade.

In 2019-20, Palmerton’s membership peaked at 111 students, but even with a slight decrease, it still has 17% of its student body participating in the organization.

At Hershey, Palmerton earned fifth place for “Outstanding Chapter” in the state and sixth place for largest market share.

Other top 10 finishers in Hershey included Chris Walkowiak, fifth place in cybersecurity; Maddie Everett and Madeline Wentz, sixth place in business ethics; Jared Reinhard, seventh place in sports management; Kate Heimbach, seventh place in introduction to business communication; Marissa Walck, fifth place in computer applications; Cody Walkowiak, eighth place in computer applications; Jonah Arner, ninth place in computer applications; and Erin Kistler, ninth place in database design.

“I had the opportunity to attend the state conference and I was just so impressed with the way our students carried themselves in such a professional manner,” Palmerton board member Brandon Mazepa said. “We should all be very proud of how they represented the district.”