VGCC students succeed in competition at state PBL conference
Members of the Vance-Granville Community College “Chi Beta Chi” chapter of the Phi Beta Lambda business student organization recently attended the 58th Annual PBL State Leadership Conference. At the conference, held April 12-14 in Charlotte, students from North Carolina universities and community colleges attended seminars and participated in various business-related competitions. All VGCC student members in attendance placed in the top eight in at least one event, bringing home numerous individual trophies as well as awards or recognitions for the chapter.
Eight students placed high enough to qualify for the national PBL competition, to be held in June in San Antonio, Texas. In the “Business Ethics” competition, the team of Ruthie Davis of Warrenton and Kimberly Dixon of Henderson came in first. Theresa Chiplis of Norlina placed first in both “Business Presentation” and “Job Interview.” In “Marketing Analysis and Decision Making,” the winners were the team of Jody Hastings of Townsville and John Pendergrass of Henderson. Diane Power of Oxford placed first in “Human Resource Management.” Travis Power came in third in “Contemporary Sports Issues, while Thomas Power of Oxford placed fifth in the same category as well as third in “Retail Management.”
Other competitions in which VGCC students scored well included “Desktop Publishing” (Diane Power and Travis Power, third), “Future Business Executive” (Ruthie Davis, sixth), “Impromptu Speaking” (David Henry of Macon, sixth and Samuel Hampton of Oxford, eighth), “Management Concepts” (Jody Hastings, seventh), “Marketing Concepts” (Lakeisha Griffin of Henderson, sixth, and Kimberly Dixon, seventh), “Public Speaking” (Samuel Hampton, eighth), and “Sales Presentation” (John Pendergrass, sixth). Also, Hastings and Diane Power were inducted into “Who’s Who in North Carolina Phi Beta Lambda.”
For the third consecutive year, the VGCC chapter was recognized as Chapter of the Year for the largest Professional Division membership (established business professionals and educators) in the state. Trudy Hargrove, a VGCC staff member, received the Professional Division Distinguished Service Award. Other Professional Division members who attended and helped administer or judge events were Lonnie Brame, Karin Driver and Sheri Walters, all of whom graduated from VGCC in 2011. The chapter also won the Terry Lowrance Leadership Award for an outstanding year of local, state, and national activities.
Phi Beta Lambda is the national organization for college students who are preparing for a variety of careers in business. The faculty advisor is LaTonya Steele and co-advisors are Carl Hann and Delton Farmer. For more information, call LaTonya Steele at (252) 738-3447.
Above: Members of the VGCC chapter of Phi Beta Lambda celebrate the chapter’s strong showing at the organization’s 2012 state leadership conference. Kneeling in front, from left, are Diane Power, Jody Hastings and John Pendergrass; standing in back, from left, are Trudy Hargrove (a Professional Division member), Kimberly Dixon, Ruthie Davis (chapter president), Lakeisha Griffin, Travis Power, Theresa Chiplis, Thomas Power, Samuel Hampton and David Henry.
