VGCC students earn high scores at state Phi Beta Lambda conference
Members of the Vance-Granville Community College “Chi Beta Chi” chapter of the Phi Beta Lambda business student organization recently attended the 57th Annual PBL State Leadership Conference. The conference was held April 7-9 in Charlotte, where students from North Carolina universities and community colleges attended seminars and participated in various business-related competitions. VGCC members placed in the top eight in 16 different events, bringing home numerous individual trophies as well as awards or recognitions for the chapter.
Twelve students placed high enough to qualify for the national PBL competition, to be held in June in Orlando, Florida. Lisa Maida of Rougemont placed second in Accounting Analysis & Decision Making, and third in Accounting Principles. Tina Ragland of Oxford placed first both in Business Communication and in Word Processing. The team of Lonnie Brame and Virtuous Harris, both of Henderson, placed first in Business Presentation, while individually, Harris placed second in Client Services, and Brame placed first in Sales Presentation. Nicholas Hardee of Henderson placed second in Computer Applications. The duo of Ruthie Davis and Ashley Buhls, both of Warrenton, came in second in Desktop Publishing, while Davis individually placed first in Help Desk. Jody Hastings of Townsville was the winner of the Future Business Executive competition, and the team of Hastings and John Pendergrass of Henderson won the Small Business Management Plan competition. Shelonda White of Oxford placed second in Future Business Executive. Sheri Moss of Henderson placed first in Job Interview. Diane Powers of Oxford placed second in Retail Management. Other competitions in which VGCC students scored well included Computer Applications (Jerome Bulluck of Henderson, seventh), Computer Concepts (Hardee, fourth), Desktop Publishing (Karin Driver of Kittrell and Powers, fourth), Impromptu Speaking (Keith Thorpe of Oxford, eighth), Retail Management (Pendergrass, seventh), and Word Processing (White, fifth). Meanwhile, White, Pendergrass and Moss were inducted into “Who’s Who in North Carolina Phi Beta Lambda,” Brame, Moss and Kiwon Harding of Henderson were recognized for “Membership Madness and Mania Promotion,” and Davis was recognized for designing the official 2011 State Leadership Conference Commemorative Pin, which employed the theme of the conference, “Breaking Barriers.”
As a chapter, VGCC received a 2011 Terry Lowrance Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding local chapters that have actively participated in Phi Beta Lambda state and national programs and conferences. The chapter was recognized for the Largest Local Chapter Membership, the largest Professional Division membership (established business professionals and educators) in the state and was named the Professional Division Local Chapter of the Year. VGCC was also recognized for contributing to the NC PBL Foundation, Inc. Scholarship and General Funds and to the March of Dimes.
Phi Beta Lambda is the national organization for college students who are preparing for a variety of careers in business. For more information, call LaTonya Steele at (252) 738-3447.
Above: The VGCC chapter of Phi Beta Lambda celebrates the chapter’s strong showing at the organization’s 2011 state leadership conference. Seated in front, from left, are John Pendergrass, Lisa Maida and Jody Hastings; kneeling in the middle, Lonnie Brame; and standing in back, from left, Ashley Buhls, Ruthie Davis, Tina Ragland, Diane Powers, Sheri Moss, Nicholas Hardee, Shelonda White and Virtuous Harris.
