CITIZEN STAFF REPORT
Talent and determination reside in the ZIP code of Martin County Area Technology Center’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter.
Against a field of more than 2,200 of Kentucky’s top young business minds, Martin County made its presence known last week at the FBLA State Leadership Conference in Louisville. Eight students placed in the top five of their events, earning spots at the National Leadership Conference set for June 29–July 2 in Anaheim, California.
Martin County ATC business instructor and FBLA adviser Thomas Ray announced the results in a Facebook post.
“Once again, Martin County ATC showed up and showed out,” Ray said. “They pushed through a very tough group of competitors. … Saying that I’m proud wouldn’t be enough.”
Among the chapter’s top performers:
- Dakota Ward and Aiden Fields took second place statewide in Business Plan.
- In Coding and Programming, Sidney Gantt and Drew Wilson also earned a second-place finish.
- Keagan Branscome placed third in Network Infrastructures.
- Grace Caldwell and Keilan Jewell finished fifth in Broadcast Journalism.
- Mason McCoy rounded out the list of national qualifiers with a fifth-place finish in Supply Chain Management.
Seventeen of Ray’s students punched their tickets to the state conference with their strong performances in the Region 5 conference in March.
“I am extremely proud of all the students who competed and gave their best efforts,” Ray said.
