Senior wins state FBLA competition, heading to Atlanta for national contest
By Carol Rolf
LITTLE ROCK — Atkins High School senior Dolly Remphrey hadn’t thought much about majoring in business law in college until she started winning competitions through the Future Business Leaders of America chapter at her school.
Now that she’s placed first in the statewide competition, she said, “I may consider law school.”
Remphrey, who has been a member of FBLA since 10th grade, won the District V competition in business law Jan. 29 at the University of Central Arkansas and advanced to state competition at the Arkansas State Leadership Conference in Little Rock. By winning the state contest, she earned the right to compete at the FBLA National Leadership Conference, which will be held Thursday, June 26, through Sunday, June 29, in Atlanta.
Mary Lou McCrotty, business teacher at Atkins High School for 23 years and FBLA adviser, will accompany Remphrey to Atlanta. “There will be lots of meetings and, of course, the competition,” McCrotty said. “But we hope to have some fun as well. We hope to attend an Atlanta Braves baseball game and go to Six Flags.”
McCrotty said FBLA helps prepare students for careers in business and business-related fields.
“I took a class in business law,” Remphrey said. “We studied businesses and how they interact with law. I learned how to work with contracts related to employment, and I studied wills. We learned about all aspects of law and through FBLA, how law relates to business.”
In preparing for state competition, Remphrey said she studied old district tests and textbooks, including vocabulary and common sense scenarios. The state test was a multiple-choice test of 100 questions.
When asked if she were surprised by her win, she said, smiling, “Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
“I didn’t think I did very good,” she said. “There were only a couple of questions that I was very sure about.”
In addition to her participation in FBLA, Remphrey is a member of the Student Council, Beta Club, Spanish Club and Science Club. She’s also “water girl” for the football team and manager of the girls basketball and track teams.
“I love sports,” she said. “I’m just not blessed with any athletic ability.”
Remphrey, a daughter of Charles Remphrey of Atkins and Donna Remphrey of Maumelle, came to the Atkins School District in eighth grade. She was born in Little Rock and lived in Bryant before moving to Atkins.
“Bryant was such a big school,” Remphrey said. “I like this smaller school better. You know more people, and you know that people care. You’re not just one of 400; you’re a person.”
She has two sisters, Andrea Ward of Benton and Stacey Ferrell of Clarksville, Tenn., and two brothers, Corey Jones of Atkins and Dillon Remphrey of Fayetteville. She is the youngest child.
After she graduates from Atkins High School this month, she plans to attend Arkansas Tech University and major in premedicine. “Or maybe prelaw,” she said with a laugh.
Remphrey also works at the Sonic Drive-In in Russellville after school and on weekends. “I don’t have time to do much else,” she said.
She was a delegate to Girls State last year at Harding University in Searcy and hopes to return this summer as a counselor. “I’d also like to go on vacation before school starts again in the fall,” she added.
Remphrey said she is looking forward to her trip to Atlanta. “I guess I’d better look at that book on business law a little more than I did before,” she said. “I’m going to study hard. It would be awesome to place at nationals.”
This article was published Thursday, May 15, 2008.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 70 on 05/15/2008
