By: Alyssa Cantu – Staff Writer
Future Business Leaders of America has high hopes for this coming school year. FBLA is an organization that prepares students that want careers in business or business related fields. The concept of FBLA was first developed in 1937 but Redwood brought it on campus in 1959.
Mrs. Saputo, English Tescher and FBLA Advisor, hopes that more people will join the club this year. She speaks on the topic and said, “It’s not as scary as it seems especially the freshman and sophomores that don’t really quite know it yet have this sort of fear of FBLA.” There are many competitions which require for people to prepare for the event they are participating in. However, when they do travel they also plan things that the students will be interested being involved in. Saputo’s desire is for underclassmen to come out to a meeting to see for themselves that it isn’t as scary as it seems from the outside.
On the other hand, Mr. Avila (Business Teacher and FBLA Advisor), has different hopes for this year’s FBLA. He said, “competitively we exceeded expectations by placing in the top five in the Stars and we also helped our community out a lot so hopefully we can continue to keep our Redwood chapter thriving and strong.” To fulfill this, Avila hopes to connect his members of FBLA to volunteer and to engage people in things like community service.
Jessica Abarca,‘21, is one of FBLA’s newest officers with the title of the leadership partner. She was a part of the ice cream social on September 6, 2018. She said, “the turnout was way better than we expected and we are all excited for future socials and meetings.” Also there were many other officers including Ali Mashael, ‘20, the vice president of community service who wants students to know, “we have fun we compete and we travel so it’s probably one best things you can do in high school.” All officers work together to do things for their fellow classmates.
This year’s FBLA President is Tania Jiroudi,‘19, she hopes to continue the family aspect that FBLA has always had at making students welcomed and included. All students of FBLA have an opportunity to go to a conference in Santa Clara. Jiroudi wants all student to know that “a lot of it is fun and bonding and you get to meet people that you wouldn’t have otherwise meet from FBLA.”
To wrap it up, everyone involved with FBLA hopes for a great year of competition and having a great time. If you have any questions about FBLA, visit their website at www.redwoodfbla.org or on Twitter at @RedwoodFBLA_. You can also stop by Room 74 and meet Mr. Avila and find out when the next meeting is.
Tags: clubs, fbla, future business leaders of america, join the tradition, Redwood, redwood high, redwood high school, tradtion, visalia, visalia ca