Kennett High School’s Julia Rivera and Kristen Miller were recently among more than 10,000 students who traveled to Nashville to showcased their talents as future business leaders.

They vied for the opportunity to win more than $165,000 in cash awards at the Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) National Leadership Conference from June 29 to July 2. Participants took part in more than 60 business and business-related competitive events.

The Kennett team of Julia Rivera and Kristin Miller placed 10th in the Business Ethics competition at the conference. Each received a trophy, and was called on stage before the 10,000 competitors and advisors.

The program sponsored by FBLA-PBL recognizes excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas. In addition to the competitions, students immersed themselves in educational workshops, visited an exhibit hall, and attended motivational keynotes on a broad range of business topics.

“This was a huge success for these girls, who worked so hard to accomplish this finish,” said Lisa Teixeira, the KHS faculty member who accompanied the team to Nashville.

Last year, the two students competed and got to the final round in the Entrepreneurship event at the national conference in Anaheim, Calif.

In order to compete at the national level, the team had to succeed at the Pennsylvania FBLA Conference and Competition held in April.

Julia Rivera is the daughter of Leonard Rivera of Avondale and Gayle Lafferty of Glen Mills. Kristen Miller is the daughter of Greg Miller and Carol Miller, both of Avondale. Both girls are 2014 graduates of Kennett High School and participated in FBLA throughout their high-school careers. The Kennett High School FBLA advisor is Bill Fritsch.