Submitted Photo Fundraising Committee co-chairs Emma Lundeen, right, and Avery Dodd compete at nationals this June.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is a great organization for teaching life skills, leadership and relationship-building, according to two members at Minot High School-Magic City Campus who will be presenting in competition at the national conference this year.

Emma Lundeen, a senior, and Avery Dodd, a junior, are among 16 Magic City students who qualified for nationals in Orlando, Florida, this summer.

“Myself and Avery Dodd are the co-heads of the fundraising committee and have spent a large part of the year proposing fundraisers for our group and getting everyone involved in participating,” Lundeen said. “This has helped us learn relationship-building, marketing and money management.”

The pair created a social media strategy for a local animal shelter and created “Magic City Animals” for presentation at the FBLA state competition.

“Our presentation led us to qualify for nationals in Orlando, Florida, this June,” Lundeen said.

“This is an amazing opportunity for us, and we could not have done it without the help of our wonderful adviser, Lisa Wolf,” she said. “I encourage any incoming freshman, or students interested in business, to join FBLA because it teaches so many valuable life and leadership skills.”

FBLA is the largest student organization in the United States. Minot High School-Magic City has 40 active members in FBLA. Over the course of the school year students fundraise as well as focus on different community service projects with a goal of competing at nationals.

“We also work on preparing to compete at our state conference,” said Lisa Wolf, business education instructor and FBLA adviser. “The state conference was just held in Bismarck last month, and 24 Minot High School-Magic City Campus students attended.”

Dodd started her involvement in FBLA in her sophomore year of high school and plans to stay with FBLA until her graduation in 2025.

“I enjoy learning about becoming a business leader and the relationships that I have gained from being a part of FBLA,” Dodd said. “Emma and I spent most of the year finding ways to raise money for our FBLA chapter. We have coordinated many fundraisers, and some of our most successful fundraisers have been with local businesses around Minot.”

The pair secured a large portion of the donations from locally owned small businesses.

“We sold baked treats from Prairie Sky Breads and we also did a basket raffle. We had basket donations from many businesses from our community. We are so thankful for all of the very generous donations that we received. Both fundraisers were extremely successful and raised us an incredible amount of money for our state and national conferences,” Dodd said.

Of the many achievements these two girls and their high school FBLA chapter accomplished, they both make note that it would not have been possible without Wolf.

“While many of our members have stepped up and helped us have such a successful FBLA year, Mrs. Wolf deserves more recognition for all that she does for our chapter as well,” Dodd said. “She has made it a safe and fun environment for everyone in the chapter. The support that she has given every student in our chapter is above and beyond what she has to do, and we are all so thankful to have her as our chapter adviser. FBLA is one of my favorite parts about high school, and I am so thankful that our school offers this.”