ANAHEIM, CA — Students from Wallenpaupack Area High School (WAHS) recently attended the 2025 National Leadership Conference (NLC) of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). FBLA is the nation’s largest career and technical student organization that is focused solely on business. 

The event, held at the Anaheim Convention Center from June 29 to July 2, attracted more than 15,000 middle school and high school students as well as educators from across the country. 

The WAHS FBLA chapter had 15 qualifiers who flew to Anaheim to attend and compete at the conference. They were Darby Brennan and Hannah Stratton, the broadcast journalism team; Harrison Braida, who competed in the future business educator category; Bryce Pagano, Eddie Kiesendahl and Ben Scholl (who was Pennsylvania FBLA state president 2025-2026), the digital video production team; Katie Pettinato and Lilly Williams, the graphic design team; Tyler Meyers, who tested in the journalism event; Jessie Gallagher, Adrianna Milutinovic and Amelia Porcelli, the public service announcement team; and Alexis Blaszczyk, Annie Guo and Julianna Lofberg, the social media strategies team. 

WAHS FBLA president Kaitlin Williams traveled with the group to gather information and insight from the national level to bring back to the local chapter for the upcoming year. She also served as a judge in the final round of an FBLA middle school competitive event. 

Bryce Pagano, Eddie Kiesendahl and Ben Scholl advanced to the final round in Digital Video Production and finished second in the nation—receiving individual plaques and a monetary reward. 

Darby Brennan and Hannah Stratton advanced to the final round in Broadcast Journalism and finished fourth in the nation; they received individual plaques. 

Harrison Braida advanced to the final round in Future Business Educator and finished fifth in the nation and received a plaque.

The WAHS FBLA Members, along with advisers Melissa Monte and Jim Winagle, and WAHS FBLA alumna Anne Monte (Wallenpaupack Area High School Class of 2015) visited Disneyland, traveled to San Diego and visited the San Diego Zoo. 

After the prelims were over, the group traveled to Huntington Beach and swam in the Pacific Ocean and watched the famous California sunset. 

This year marks the 11th consecutive year of WAHS students taking qualifiers to the national conference. During those years, the school has had competitors place in the top 10, but this is the first time they have had three teams land in the top five in the nation. 

Congratulations to all competitors on a job well done!

FBLA inspires and prepares students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences. The association is headquartered in Reston, VA. For more information, visit www.fbla.org.