PBL National Leadership Conference - San Antonio 2012

Tammy Slayden and Megan Tucker

Members of the St Charles Community College chapter of Phi Beta Lambda competed at the PBL National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, TX June 24-27. Tammy Slayden and Catherine Dera competed in the Desktop Publishing team category, and Megan Tucker competed in the Computer Applications category. These students were recognized at the Missouri State PBL Leadership Conference in March by placing high enough in their categories to qualify to compete at the national conference. This year's conference included over 1,700 members from around the United States, Puerto Rico, and China and 55 categories of competitions.

Megan Tucker accepting 1st Place in Computer Applications

This year brought a first (literally) for SCC Phi Beta Lambda. Megan Tucker placed 1st in the Computer Applications competition and was also awarded a cash prize of $500 (part of the over $54,000 in cash awards for winners - this is the first year that every competition included a cash award for the top 3-5 in each category). The Computer Applications competition used the Microsoft Office 2010 Suite requiring the production of a Word document, Excel worksheet, PowerPoint presentation, and an Access database. In addition to the production of these business files, the competition also included a multiple choice test covering basic computer knowledge, spelling, and grammar skills.

Megan and Tammy attended the conference and completed the multiple choice portion of each of their competitions on site. Once the business and competition of the conference was completed, we all had a chance to explore San Antonio. In spite of the crazy heat, we didn't leave much unseen. There were beautifully solemn sites such as The Alamo and San Fernando Cathedral (built in 1738, it is the oldest, continuously functioning religious community in Texas). We also hit the art, shopping, and dining areas - touring the River Walk by water taxi (and walking both sides each evening), La Villita Historic Arts Village (shops and galleries showcasing many local artisans, the buildings buildt in the early 1800s), and The Market Square (the largest Mexican market in the U.S.). We even made it to the oldest saloon in Texas, The Buckhorn Saloon (open since 1881) & Museum, which also houses the Texas Ranger Museum. We definitely made good use of our time while at the conference.

The Alamo

The River Walk

The Market Square

 

The Buckhorn Saloon

Phi Beta Lambda is part of the largest and oldest student business organization in the U.S. This year, chapters from Puerto Rico and China also attended and competed. The number of national chapters has now topped 500 with over 6,500 active members across middle school, high school, and college chapters. This year, Missouri had 35 Top 10 winners at NLC!

The SCC PBL members have qualified for and competed at the PBL National Leadership Conference in three of the last four years with top 10 winners in two of those three years. That is quite an accomplishment! I hope that more students will join our PBL chapter and participate in the conferences and competitions, but will also see the benefit of networking with other students, college service, and community service as well. As the club advisor, I take a lot of pride in the work our members do and it is one of the things I love about my job.

If you are an SCC student, or will be this coming fall, I hope you will consider joining us. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter, and you can also email me at acompton@stchas.edu with any questions. Next year the state conference is tentatively set to be in Columbia and the national conference is confirmed to be in Anaheim, CA. I hope to see you in the fall!

Photos in this blog are courtesy of Tammy Slayden, current SCC PBL Vice President.