Business students succeed at tri-county regional competition
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn Newspapers TOP ENTREPRENEURS- Moorpark High School Future Business Leaders of America members relax after the section competition on March 3. In the picture are the club officers who led the team to victory for 16 consecutive years: Carolyn Chou, Steven Thorsen, Hung Le, Emily, Tung, Jeanine Shimatsu, Ryan Panaro, Thomas Capparelli and Shalini Karre.

For the 16th year in a row, members of Moorpark High School's Future Business Leaders of America swept top scores at the Tri-County Gold Coast Section Leadership Conference.

"The enthusiasm we all have transfers to our success," said senior and club president Carolyn Chou.

FBLA-Phi Beta Lambda is a nonprofit education association of students preparing for careers in business and business-related fields.

More than 150 students who bring a diverse base of knowledge and a great deal of commitment comprise the Moorpark High chapter, according to member Michael Fantauzzo, a sophomore. About 100 of those students took part in the competition earlier this month in Saugus. The event marks the culmination of months of studying.

Students competed against other high school teams in written and oral tests covering business-related subjects such as business communications, principles, and accounting procedures.

"There are tests for business principles and how to run a meeting like the parliamentary procedures competition, where the Moorpark team won first place," said Fantauzzo.

Zosia Blair is the head advisor for the group, the largest student-run club at Moorpark High.

"The students worked hard and they studied a lot for this," Blair said.

Forty-two students qualified to go on to the California state competition, which will take place in April in Santa Clara. Those who attain the highest scores there will go on to compete in the nationals in Chicago.

Those who qualified for the state competition are members of the parliamentary team, a group of students who must know the rules of order that guide public meetings; the entrepreneurship team, which has to know every aspect of starting and running a successful business; and the new management and decisionmaking team.

At the state event, students must perform before judges without advance preparation on subject matter.

"They also have to wear full business attire, which is very impressive," Blair said.

Fantauzzo is the first leadership associate officer elected from Moorpark, said Chou. He'll represent Moorpark at the Gold Coast, helping to run the section that includes Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties.

Fantauzzo said he joined the business leaders on an impulse, but decided to stay because it's fun and the people are great.

"Then I realized I was learning skills that will serve me in the future in academics and business," Fantauzzo said.