TCS sees three others place at national conference

Tullahoma City Schools had four national winners, including a National Champion, at the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference earlier this month in San Antonio.

West Middle FBLA had 13 students who went to Nationals competing in 14 different events, while Tullahoma High School had 19 students competing in 11 different events.

West Middle School had three national winners, led by Analeigh Spain, who claimed her National Championship in the Exploring FBLA competition. Spain is just the third National Champion at the middle-school level, and the second for Tullahoma City Schools.

According to FBLA Advisor Franklin Cammack, the Exploring FBLAcompetitionallowedmembers to demonstrate their knowledge of the FBLA through an objective test as it covers FBLA’s history, structure, programs, leadership, and mission, helping members deepen their understanding of the organization. He also shared that Spain is Tennessee’s third national champion at the middle school level, following Jonah Rathjen Vallejos in 2023 and Samantha Willis in 2010.

Gavin Good added a sixthplace performance for West Middle in Exploring Parliamentary Procedure, which allowed members to demonstrate their knowledge of meeting structure and rules. Cammack said Gavin’s brother Hayden also placed sixth in the event in 2023, back when it was called Running an Effective Meeting. Joseph Halfacre also took ninth place in Digital Citizenship, which challenged members to show their understanding of safe, ethical, and responsible behavior in digital environments.

In total, WMS had 13 students participate in 14 events. According to Cammack, since its founding in 2018, the WMS FBLA has won 15 national wins, including two national championships.

In addition, WMS’s Juliette Raynal was selected by the State of Tennessee to appear onstage during the Opening Session’s Parade of States as the Young Leader recipient. The Young Leader Award recognizes members with extraordinary commitment to leadership and community service, and each state may only select one. She shared the stage with the state’s Adviser of the Year, State President, and the Who’s Who recipient, which was THS student Thomas Payton Cunningham.

According to Cammack, Cunningham was recognized twice onstage during Thursday Night’s Award of Excellence. His first recognition was for being selected as a finalist in the Business Achievement Awards Capstone Project, where he designed, completed and reflected on his project, titled “Voice in Action.” The goal of his project was to bring statelevel political knowledge directly intostudents’dailyenvironmentand empower them to form their own informed opinions. This included representative walkthroughs, a voter registration partnership, and community outreach. Cunningham was one of 15 finalists chosen from over 280 submissions.

Cammack added that Cunningham worked with State Sen. Janice Bowling to create the “Tennessee High School Voter Rights Act,” which, if passed, would amend state law to give high school students 18 and older an excused absence from school to vote in federal, state, and local elections.

Cunningham also placed ninth in in the premier event Future Business Leader, where members had to demonstrate leadership, business knowledge, and active involvement in the organization via an objective test and a presentation. According to Cammack, this marked Cunningham’s second national win, placing ninth last year in Electric Career Portfolio. This also marked the high school’s third national placing, with the other two being last year.

THS student Edward Henry also ran for the office of National Officer Position of Southern Region Vice-President, Cammack said, to the best of his knowledge, that Henry was the first FBLA student from Tullahoma to run for a national position. While he would lose to Gabriella Martinez Reyes from Florida, Cammack praised Henry for running a great campaign.

“I am blown away by the accomplishments of our FBLA students and their advisers, Franklin Cammack and Will Hyden,” said TCS Director of Schools Dr. April Norris. “To have a National Champion and three other students place is exceptional. Congratulations to these students, their advisers, and their families for their continued support.”

The students were also celebrated by the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen at its July 27 meeting. Each of the students received recognition for their efforts at the national conference and received certificates from the city.

Photos courtesy of Tullahoma City Schools.