National Honors: Falconer FBLA advisor honored at national conference; Falconer students compete

 Five students from Falconer Central School traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to compete against the best young business minds in the country at the 2026 Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference.

Representing New York state, the students showcased their skills across three different events, while their longtime adviser earned national honors for her decades of dedication to FBLA.

In the high school division, Finley Darr, Ella Garrison and Lilli Szal-Williams teamed up to present the Local Chapter Annual Business Report. Their presentation highlighted the chapter’s community service, financial planning, and project management efforts over the past year.

The Middle-Level division was represented by Lydia Cross and Maci-Lynn Akin. Cross competed in Exploring Customer Service, tackling a real-world scenario focused on client relations and effective problem-solving. Akin competed in Digital Citizenship, testing her knowledge on internet safety, technology ethics, and online literacy.

All five students put in months of preparation to earn their spot at the conference, where they joined more than 15,000 fellow competitors, gaining invaluable real-world experience and professional skills along the way.

Michelle Johnson, chapter adviser, was recognized on stage as the New York state Outstanding Local Chapter Advisor alongside the state president and the 2026 NYS Who’s Who in FBLA, Clymer’s Jeffrey Perry.

Johnson was also officially inducted into the FBLA National Adviser Wall of Fame, recognizing more than 27 years of active service. Over nearly three decades, Johnson has held leadership roles at the local, state, and national levels across all three divisions of the organization: FBLA Middle-Level, FBLA High School, and FBLA Collegiate.