Students from the Mt. Blue/Foster CTE Center FBLA chapter gather during the FBLA State Leadership Conference, held March 16–18. Mason Labonte, front, was elected Maine FBLA State President for 2025–26 at the DoubleTree Hotel in South Portland where the conference takes place. Left to right: Regina Savage, advisor; Natalee Orr, Kennedy Berry, Natalie Stokes, Jenna Osgood, Kesley Manenge, Kaden Reeve, Lily Hanley, Gabriella Seaberg, Morgan Kelley. Submitted photo

FARMINGTON — Students from Mt. Blue High School and the Foster Career and Technical Education Center’s Future Business Leaders of America [FBLA] chapter earned top honors at the FBLA State Leadership Conference, held March 16-18 at the DoubleTree in South Portland. Their achievements included two state board positions, scholarship awards, and recognition for their advisor.

The statewide event, held annually, brings together students from across Maine for business-themed competitions, workshops and leadership training.

Mason Labonte, a junior at Spruce Mountain High School and Foster CTE Center student, was elected Maine FBLA State President for the 2025-26 term. Morgan Kelley, a student from Mt. Abram High School, was elected state secretary and named New Member of the Year.

“My goal during my term on the state board is something that I ran on and that’s servant leadership,” Labonte said. “I am there to serve the people I was elected by. I am going to take their feedback and implement it in next year’s conference the best that I can. I can’t please everybody, but I’m going to make sure that everybody’s voice is heard in one way or another on the state board.”

The chapter brought home several top-three placements, including first place in Networking Infrastructure and Job Interview and second place in Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship and Business Management. Students also earned two scholarships to Thomas College, totaling $4,000.

“The competitive events that were with a team were done with our schools,” Labonte said. “We were considered a competitive team, so we were competing against other competitive teams, which were schools.”

Labonte, who competed in multiple events himself, said the most difficult part was tackling topics without formal preparation. “We have never been taught or learned about them, and so we just had to do the best that we could in these events,” he said.

Balancing FBLA with other responsibilities, including serving as business captain of Blue Crew FIRST Robotics Competition Team 6153 and participating in theater has required discipline. “I believe time management is the best tool in my pocket that I have,” Labonte said. “I don’t get home until nine or ten o’clock at night. And I still have to get my responsibilities done, so I just try to block out time for all of my responsibilities and get them done during the week.

The team also took part in a service activity with Mission Working Dogs, the state FBLA’s service project. The Maine-based nonprofit improves the lives of people with disabilities by providing properly trained service dogs that promote greater independence.

FBLA advisor Regina Savage was named chapter advisor of the year, an honor Mt. Blue administrators said was “well deserved” based on the chapter’s strong showing.

For more information about the chapter or upcoming events, contact Mason Labonte at 26mlabonte@mtbluersd.org or masonlabonte@rsu73.com.

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