March 10, 2017
ECCC Phi Beta Lambda students receiving awards during the State Leadership Conference included (front row, from left) Paxton Holmes of Morton, Madelyn Ball of Louisville, Jessica Everett of Decatur and Kiara Cunningham of Philadelphia; (second row, from left) Nicole Ferguson and Abby Smith, both of Philadelphia; Courtney Bell of Forest, Samantha Stovall of Philadelphia and Tamaya Pace of Forest; (third row, from left) Drew Chapman of Union, Gage Leifried of Meridian and Morgan Cain of Carthage; (fourth row, from left) Thomas Pugh of Starkville, Joseph Blount of Philadelphia, Lane Wooten and Enoc Reynoso, both of Carthage, and Khalil Triplett of Philadelphia; and (back row, from left) Tanner Hardy of Philadelphia and Kevin Smith of Newton. Not pictured is Makaeya Brock of Decatur. (Submitted Photo)
Members of East Central Community College’s Theta Chi Chapter of Phi Beta Lambda received top honors during the State Leadership Conference and 20 members placed first or second in at least one event, which qualifies them for national competition this summer in Anaheim, Calif.
Chapter awards included Hall of Fame induction for placing first at the 2016 National Conference in the event Local Chapter Annual Business Report, and recognition for being a Foundation member, hosting the FBLA-PBL State Fall Leadership Conference and FBLA Central District Conference.
The chapter also received first place in raising funds for the March of Dimes and first place in Local Chapter Annual Business Report.
Individual recognition was given to Paxton Holmes who was the outgoing state vice president and Jessica Everett who will be the incoming state president. Theta Chi members selected for Who’s Who in PBL included Holmes, Morgan Cain, Enoc Reynoso and Khalil Triplett.
State award winners include Makaeya Brock of Decatur, Thomas Pugh of Starkville and Lane Wooten of Carthage, first place in business presentation; Gage Leifried of Meridian, first place in client service; Morgan Cain of Carthage and Paxton Holmes of Morton, first place in community service project; Kevin Smith of Newton, first place in cyber security; Enoc Reynoso of Carthage and Abby Smith of Philadelphia, first place in hospitality management; Drew Chapman of Union, first place in forensic accounting; TaMaya Pace and Courtney Bell, both of Forest, and Joseph Blount of Philadelphia, first place in integrated marketing campaign; Cain, Holmes, Joseph Blount, Nicole Ferguson and Samantha Stovall, all of Philadelphia, first place in parliamentary procedure; Tanner Hardy of Philadelphia and Smith, first place in network design; Madelyn Ball of Louisville, Bell and Ferguson, first place in computer animation; Hardy, second place in cyber security; Jessica Everett of Decatur, second place in impromptu speaking; Chapman, Pace and Stovall, second place in marketing analysis and decision making; Thomas Pugh of Starkville, second place in microeconomics; Kiara Cunningham of Philadelphia, Everett and Triplett, second place in small business management plan; Ball and Leifried, third place in economic analysis and decision making; and Abby Smith of Philadelphia, fourth place in job interview.
Christy Ferguson, Thomas Fortenberry and Judy Hurtt serve as advisors.
