Four Palmerton Area High School students recently secured top ten finishes at the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in Orlando, marking its most impressive performance in school history.

Jalin Burns placed third in hospitality and event management, while Isabella Catania and Cassandra Hager earned seventh place as a broadcast journalism team. Karsten Rolappe achieved an eighth place finish in business ethics. Christopher Walkowiak had been the most recent Bomber to crack the top ten, having placed ninth at the national level in 2021.

“It’s a testament to the students’ hard work and dedication,” one of Palmerton’s FBLA advisors, Kerry Palumbo, said. “I was watching the award ceremony live from home, and I was crying and screaming with joy. Seeing Palmerton’s name on the screen is an indescribable feeling.”

Burns’ event included a role-play scenario that evaluates a student’s knowledge of hospitality and event management.

“I actually called my mom sobbing because I thought it was the worst role-play I have probably ever done,” Burns said. “When they announced the results and my name was up there in third in the nation, I was in shock. It still doesn’t feel real to me.”

As someone who admittedly lacks self-confidence from time to time, Burns said her experience in FBLA has helped her realize she belongs in the room with the nation’s best.

“It’s a little rough because in my competition when you go to the testing you see everybody in your events, so it was very challenging because then I’m looking at everybody and saying to myself, they look a little smarter than me,” Burns said. “So having that self confidence in my competition was something that I had to learn.”

Catania knew she and Hager had a good broadcast journalism presentation, but wasn’t sure how it would stack up on the national level. After a seventh-place finish, their partnership is stronger than ever.

“I think our relationship grew,” Catania said. “She’s my best friend and I think I learned a lot with her. I would have never made it where I did without her. Confidence is definitely key when going into something that you’re nervous about. Even if it doesn’t play out exactly how you want it to, if you go in there with a strong mindset and confidence, you’ll do your best.”

The students’, however, said they couldn’t have made it to Orlando without the help of their friends, families and the Palmerton community as a whole.

Palmerton’s FBLA is 118 members strong. It cost over $50,000 for all of the students who qualified for the state leadership conference in April to make it to Hershey and compete. To be able attend nationals in a location such as Florida, the cost rises even more.

“We had a Krispy Kreme fundraiser this year where we sold $10,000 worth of donuts,” Palumbo said. “We sold thousands of dollars worth of hoagies from Thompson’s Meat Market. The kids really put their whole heart into making this happen. Palmerton is a special place. And the community of Palmerton is always 100% behind their kids. We sent out letters out to different corporations in the community this year. Our school board has been phenomenal over the years, really supporting us as much as they possibly can. We’re very lucky.”

While competing in Orlando, Catania said, the students felt the support they were getting from back home.

“We were scrolling through Facebook and seeing all of the posts telling us good luck and that they were cheering for us,” she said. “It’s a really rewarding feeling when you have so many people pulling for you like that.”

One of the ultimate goals of FBLA, Palumbo said, is to expose students to different careers and help them in finding areas of interest. Burns said her experience is already paying dividends.

“I just had a job interview at the Asa Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe and I was able to draw on my experience from being in the organization,” she said. “I’m hoping to continue to use what I have learned to help them market the mansion or help them with some of their events.”

Palmerton has won a market share award for the past three years recognizing the percentage of its student body that participates in FBLA. Palumbo said while every school has a tipping point, she doesn’t believe Palmerton has hit it quite yet.

“FBLA encourages us every year to recruit a minimum of 10 more members than we had the year before and our kids jump on that challenge,” she said. “They’re the biggest recruiters. It’s not us as advisors. The kids share their experiences and as long as we continue to give students those opportunities and they keep giving positive feedback, we will keep growing.”