Nekoosa Students Celebrate Successful Year as State Officers
For the City Times
Nekoosa State Officers End Successful Year
NEKOOSA — Nekoosa High School was one of only a few school districts in the state to have two state officers of Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) to serve in the same school year.
Mackenzie Boivin and Hannah Knuth, both seniors, have spent their 2016-17 school year serving the student members of Wisconsin FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and Wisconsin HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) on the state leadership teams. Boivin is a two-time state officer, serving as FBLA State Reporter in 2015-16 and Region II Vice President this past year, while Knuth was the HOSA State Projects Coordinator for the 2016-17 school year.
Both Nekoosa seniors began their journey in CTSOs as just regular chapter members, but soon realized that there was so much more available to them if they wanted it. Boivin realized this as a sophomore when she attended the National Fall Leadership Conference in Minneapolis and interacted with the state officer team.
“I knew that after that I needed to take every opportunity FBLA threw at me,” said Boivin. “Being a two-time state officer was easily the best choice I made in high school and helped shape my future in the best way possible.”
Knuth may not have had a national conference to inspire her, but instead it was the thought that if she didn’t give it a shot she would regret not taking that chance. She wanted the platform to bring her ideas to Wisconsin HOSA and see what impact she could make. Mackenzie and Hannah have served with distinction in these organizations, and have brought about change for not only local members, but members across the state of Wisconsin.
Boivin was most proud of the work she did to completely update and modernize the bi-monthly newsletter Wisconsin FBLA e-Bulletin (WFeB) and she started the organizations Instagram account, @wisconsinfbla. Hannah spent countless hours working to increase membership across the state through the development of videos distributed monthly regarding topics, such as, dress code, State and National Projects, and promoting their conferences.
Being a state officer involves countless hours of conference calls, a week-long training at Edgewood College in the summer, and working as part of a team with students from across Wisconsin. Mackenzie served with 11 other officers from Waunakee, Gilman, Kewaunee, Seymour, Sheboygan North, St. Croix Central, Suring, Cochrane-Fountain City, DeForest, Dodgeland, and Muskego.
Knuth served with five other officers from Sheboygan North, Middleton, Kimberly, and two from Whitefish Bay. Thanks to social media and technology, state officer teams are now able to stay in contact much easier than before, and are able to stay in touch with their student members through Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Both girls said their greatest moment of being a state officer was standing in front of the state conference delegation and realizing the impact they had on the membership of Wisconsin FBLA and HOSA.
“It has been a true pleasure to advise both of these girls in FBLA at Nekoosa. Having two state officers at the same time is rare, and even more rare in a school our size,” said Jen Jackson, Nekoosa FBLA Adviser. “The impact they have made at the local and state level is impressive, but what I have loved the most is watching them grow into confident, well-spoken, and driven individuals who have the talent and skills to accomplish anything they put their minds to.”
Both girls have bright futures ahead of them, in part because of what they have learned through CTSO involvement. Boivin will be attending the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in the fall with a major in Marketing. She also just landed a summer internship position with Odyssey as a Content Creator.
Knuth will be attending Kent State University in Kent, Ohio hoping to earn her Bachelors of Science in Nursing and then her Doctor of Nursing Practice to hopefully work in Pediatric Oncology.