Future Business Leaders of America
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Speaker Series Kicks Off with Business & Education Connected
On Monday, October 21, 2013, Pine-Richland Future Business Leaders of America (PRFBLA) began its monthly speaker series. The speakers who presented for the October meeting were Mrs. Loney and Mrs. Ricci of Business and Education Connected. Mrs. Loney started the company after serving on the school board for Pine-Richland School District and learning that while PRHS has very impressive graduation statistics, many colleges and universities do not have as high of graduation rates and are not preparing college students to be able to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in four years’ time.
Business and Education Connected focuses on helping clients find their individual interests and skills and pair them with the best college major and career for the student. This planning helps students to enter into college with a career plan in mind and be able to complete all classes necessary for graduation within four years.
According to Mrs. Loney, once students have found their career path in life, in addition to maintaining good grades and completing a college education, students should develop their job skills according to qualifications that are necessary or helpful in their field, specifically computer programs or software. If two people are applying for a job, a person with excellent grades may be passed up for a person with good grades who is also very familiar with the software that the job requires. Mrs. Loney also mentioned that work-linked learning is the best approach to prepare young people for the world of work by creating career knowledge and building career ambition. For students who are ahead of the norm and have already aligned their interests and skills to find the perfect career for them, Mrs. Ricci suggests job shadowing, internships, apprenticeships or other opportunities to experience what it is really like working in the field, to make sure students have picked the right career for them.
Students in FBLA are learning that it is not enough to get good grades; and it is best to be proactive to take necessary steps to find a career that makes students excited to go to work every day. Thank you to Mrs. Loney and Mrs. Ricci for sharing their time and expertise for the students of PR-FBLA.
Julia Palmieri, FBLA Reporter