Aug. 2, 2002 – Elena Christian Junior High School teacher Ruby Correia is making sure her students become future business leaders – by keeping them active in the local chapter of Future Business Leaders of America.
A veteran of 11 years teaching at Elena Christian JHS, Correia says her business education classes are generally filled with at least 20 students, both seventh- and eighth-graders. Her exploratory business course covers typing, shorthand, accounting and office practice. She takes her students on field trips to the Legislature, to banks and private businesses, to historic sites.
Correia is the territorial adviser for FBLA, and in that capacity she took four Elena Christian students who are FBLA members to the recent national conference in Tennessee. At the conference Correia was named to the ranks of the 2002 Outstanding Local Chapter Advisers.
The students are Nikita Behagen, Tashima Lambert, Shevon Rose and Kavoia Smalls and they were, said Correia, "very impressed" by the conference. Chapter members from Charlotte Amalie High School took several honors there, so these younger students have models to live up to.
The FBLA St. Croix chapter has had as many as 70 members in the group, and is very active. When the annual Career Day during FBLA Week rolls around, members go into the community and choose a location to work for a day. Correia said students have chosen the courts, travel agents, the airport, attorneys, and the like. She said students were particularly impressed by working at the court – and court officials were likewise impressed by the students.
It's obvious that Correia thinks young people are never too young to work on the quality of their future work life. She does wish that more young men would see the value of this route to the business world: girls outnumber guys quite heavily in classes and the association.
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