After years of striving for excellence, the Charles Henderson High School Future Business Leaders of America are the top club in the state.

For the last 11 years, that honor has gone to the larger Sylacauga High School, but CHHS FBLA adviser Jennifer Sanders said a second place finish a year ago pushed this year’s club to finally reach the top.

“To us, we are number one,” Sander said. “We work harder than any other. My students put their heart and soul into it. We’re competitive.”

In addition to her hard-working students, Sanders credited the club’s “Trojan Corner” store as the impetus that has allowed them to expand their reach.

“Trojan corner provides money to do projects we haven’t had money to do in past,” Sanders said. “We don’t have to spend all of our energy on fundraisers, although we still do those. We have money we know we can budget toward projects.”

In order to reach that top spot, the group had to work diligently to earn points that the state organization tallies up, including attending leadership conferences, doing community service projects and earning certifications.

In addition, 17 students went to the state convention to compete in statewide competitions April 12 and 13 in Birmingham.

“It is a tough competition,” Sanders said. “We were there from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. competing or going and supporting each other. It’s just a busy, busy day.”

“It’s a great experience to see how four years of hard work finally pays off in the end,” said Mallory McGrath, senior member.

In addition to being named the top chapter, the club was declared Most Outstanding Chapter in District 4, Outstanding Level State Blueprint,” second Largest Chapter in the District with 107 members and Gold Seal Chapter.

Individual and team awards include:

• Orion Nokes- first place job interview, recognition for State Leadership Council (3 in Alabama)
• Stewart Wilson- third place Accounting 2, Top 4 Statistics Open Event
• Lexi Sanders- Who’s Who in AL FBLA District 4, fourth place Annual Business Report
• Abbie Barron- Top 4 Retail Management Open Event
• Emma Kirkpatrick- Top Human Resource Management Open Event
• James Allen- Top 4 Macroeconomics Open Event
• Cobi Jones and Alyssa English second Place American Enterprise Project Team

Laney Kelley- second Place Introduction to Public Speaking