FBLA TBL May 2023 - 9

Students Teach Students
About Future Business Skills
You're walking down the
hall at school and glance
into the classroom,
where you see middle
school students completely
wrapped in toilet
paper. What is going on?
It turns out they are practicing their
business interview skills in a so-called
" mummy interview. "
This activity is just one way FBLA
members from West Career & Technical
Academy (West CTA), a high school in Las
Vegas, Nevada, are mentoring members
from the nearby Faith Lutheran Middle
School, which formed its FBLA chapter
last October. It's an example of how high
school students are building stronger
connections with middle school students
and showing that FBLA is one association
that can guide them from middle school
through college and on to future careers.
West CTA sophomores Spencer
Oshins and Ashlyn Pryor developed the
mentoring project last summer, right after
the 2022 National Leadership Conference
in Chicago, Illinois. After attending the
Nevada FBLA State Business Leadership
Conference in April 2022 and seeing
few middle school students there, they
developed the American Enterprise
Project to boost Middle School rolls.
" This project was completely
self-driven by the students, " said West
CTA Adviser Kristen Stuart. " As a
chapter, they created a committee and
worked together to organize, produce,
and present to the middle schoolers to
help them learn and understand FBLA,
and to be able to build a successful
[Middle School] chapter that will then
carry on to a High School chapter and be
sustainable. " Advisers were there when
guidance was needed, Stuart said, but
students led the initiative.
engaging for middle school students.
The " mummy interview " consists of
asking and answering questions that may
come up in a professional interview, all
while slowly wrapping a participant in
toilet paper from the neck down. Why?
" Because it's fun! " Oshins said.
Students are also focused on
community service. The Faith
Lutheran students did a Kindness
Day presentation to nearly 50
elementary school students and have
talked in their own meetings about
topics like empathy. They are also
helping their younger counterparts
prepare for state competitions and
complete some activities in the Adopta-Chapter
program (see sidebar for
more information).
Esther Petrasova, left, and Kirill
Peligramm, right, both 8th graders
at Faith Lutheran Middle School,
participate in mummy interviews.
The project has several goals in
mind. The first is to help the middle
school students develop as leaders
by focusing on activities to help
them improve their communication,
public speaking, problem-solving,
and teamwork skills, such as a mock
Shark Tank presentation. The second
is to improve their general business
knowledge. The third is to grow
Faith Lutheran's membership, which
increased from four members at the
beginning of the school year to 12 as
of March.
It's clearly working. At their first
meeting, the Middle School members
took a test in business skills that the High
School members designed. The mean
test score was 42 percent. At their sixth
meeting, just five weeks later, the average
had jumped to 93 percent.
The West CTA FBLA members work
hard to make sure business topics are
Pryor said the chapter is emphasizing
skills students can use wherever they go.
" We want to make sure it's helping them
transition not only into the business
world but also just into the general high
school experience, " she said.
Adopt-a-Chapter is an
initiative of the 2022-23 High
School National Officer Team
to bridge the gap between
the Middle School and High
School divisions. Chapters
for the pilot program have
been paired with one another
and are currently working
on a set of tasks together.
Winners of the challenge will
receive recognition at the
2023 National Leadership
Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
To get involved for the next
membership year, chapters
should sign up when the new
program year launches.
- Aarav Dagar, High School
National President
MAY 2023 | 9 |
FBLA TBL May 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of FBLA TBL May 2023
