PBL students win national awards

Three North Arkansas College (Northark) students recently competed in nationals and all three nabbed national awards, rising to place among the top 10 in the nation. Ashley Walker won 2nd place in Justice Administration, Emma Helmuth placed 4th in Retail Management, and Matthew Liggett won 8th place in Small Business Management Plan.

This year's PBL National Leadership Conference was held in Chicago, IL on June 24-27, 2022. The FBLA-PBL organization also announced the rebranding of PBL (Phi Beta Lambda) to FBLA Collegiate. This was the first in-person conference held in three years. 

Northark President Rick Massengale said, “I’m proud of these students They are our future. Northark has some of the best and brightest young minds who skillfully compete against two and four-years colleges from across the country and who are led by outstanding faculty. When members of our college family succeed, we celebrate their achievements alongside them and their families. Congratulations!”

All students placed in the state competition held earlier this year, which qualified them to compete at nationals.

Ashley Walker lives in Harrison and will graduate in December with an AS in Business. Matthew Liggett resides in Harrison and will graduate next May with an AA degree. Emma Helmuth is from Jasper and plans to transfer to Arkansas Tech University. Her goal is to be a business teacher. 

“The students enjoyed traveling and experiencing the conference in Chicago,” PBL Advisor Janet McMurrin said. “They all did very well and represented Northark admirably.”