On Wednesday, Jan. 20, Ringgold High School will host 20 area schools for the 2010 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Region 8 Regional Leadership Conference (RLC).

The RLC is the beginning of the competition year for more than 23,000 FBLA members in Georgia. Among the schools attending are Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High, Calhoun High, Heritage High, LaFayette High and Ringgold Middle schools.

This year, more than 260 students and advisers will travel to Ringgold High School to participate in business workshops, leadership training and activities and compete in various business events. The evening will conclude with an awards ceremony during which the winners of each competition will be announced. The top winners of the Regional conference will go on to represent Region 8 at the State Leadership Conference, which will be held in Atlanta March 26-27.

This is the first time the conference has been held at Ringgold High and only the second time the school’s FBLA chapter is responsible for organizing the event.

Region 8 adviser, state Adviser of the Year and Ringgold business department teacher Kym Johnson led the school FBLA chapter in planning and organizing this year’s RLC. “We’ve been planning the event since early No-vember.” Johnson said. “Ringgold FBLA will be in charge of the entire conference from the time visitors walk into the parking lot to when they wave goodbye to the buses at the end.”

Sandy Kilgore, FBLA adviser at Ringgold High, said hosting the conference has been a combined school and community effort. “Everyone has really come together to pull this off,” she said. For example, JROTC will park school buses as visitors arrive. Teachers will volunteer their classrooms and many of them will stay for the confer-ence to be event administrators.

“This gives our students an opportunity to step up and be leaders for the region,” said Kilgore. “It is a chance for them to use their leaderships skills, to organize, coordinate, and put out fires when they happen.”

Various members and businesses from Catoosa County including Lee Tubbs, Enviroguard Pest Solutions; Dalton State College; Sandra Self, tax commissioner; Gateway Bank & Trust and Georgia Northwestern Technical College will volunteer their afternoon to be judges for the performance competitions, which include public speaking, job interview and emerging business issues.

Also returning to judge and volunteer are many Ringgold High FBLA alumni.

About Georgia FBLA

Georgia FBLA is a nonprofit student organization committed to preparing today's students for success in busi-ness leadership. With over 50 years of experience, Georgia FBLA is the premiere organization for student leaders. Georgia FBLA is an affiliate of Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. The largest student business organization in the world with more than 250,000 members. Georgia is also the largest FBLA chapter in the nation with over 24,000 members. The FBLA mission is to bring business and education together in a positive work-ing relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs. We bring our mission to life through the application of our motto: Service, Education, and Progress.