PMHS Student Profile: Dillon Miller
Dillon Miller (PMHS 2024) is the president of Prospect Mountain’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter. A few weeks ago, Dillon returned from the FBLA national conference in Atlanta, GA. For Dillon, that trip was the result of his election as a state officer at the New Hampshire State Conference in March of 2023. He wasn’t the only Prospect student to make a mark at the state conference; although the PMHS chapter is relatively small, they performed well. As a group, they won three (4 chapter awards including Honor Chapter & State Chairperson's Award) awards while competing with schools whose memberships included up to 50-60 students. In addition to the chapter awards, Owen Joubert placed third in the job interview competition, earning a $150 scholarship. Katie Healey won second in the introduction to public speaking competition, and Dillon was elected state officer for the third time.
The state organization paid for the majority of Dillon’s travel expenses to attend the FBLA National Conference in Atlanta, with PMHS FBLA making some contributions. This was his third trip to Nationals, after traveling to Chicago in 2022 and NLC online in 2021 due to Covid. During these years, he has been Prospect’s only student representative at the FBLA national conference. The school’s FBLA chapter declined during Covid pandemic, at one point down to Dillon as the only member. Under his student leadership, the group has grown to thirteen members in the 2022-2023 year, and Dillon remains focused on recruiting from the younger grades.
Dillon said that highlights from his trip to Atlanta include being interviewed on a podcast talking about his life and responsibilities as a state officer plus his volunteer work in the community. Dillon has been surprised that many students at PMHS and across New Hampshire have told him they listened to the podcast.
As an FBLA state officer, Dillon has been responsible for setting up at state-wide events, where he and the other officers usually have to arrive a day early. They also organize ice-beaker activities for students and receive and greet guests and dignitaries. This year, Dillon met a state supreme court justice.
Back home at PMHS, the PMHS FBLA chapter collected 1,737 books last year, (a project spearheaded by vice president Katie Healy) which they donated to local libraries. Chapters across the state participated in the book drive, but none collected nearly as many books as Prospect’s small chapter. Dillon is also proud that the chapter, working together, has once again brought PMHS back to having 95% participation across the school on breast cancer awareness day for 2023, just as it was in years prior to covid.
Dillon is also a member of the National Honor Society and a three-year member of the PMHS varsity basketball team. Dillon has found a welcoming peer group in active FBLA members from other schools, which he says has enriched his high school career. During his senior year, Dillon plans to compete in the FBLA job interview competition and hopes to qualify for national competition in that discipline as well as by serving as a state officer.
As for plans after high school, Dillon plans to look at Clemson, Wake Forest, Johnson and Wales in Charlotte, the University of North Carolina, Old Dominion and Elon. “I don’t like the cold,” he said, as an explanation for the locations of his preferred colleges. Dillon wants to study entrepreneurship and possibly some kind of engineering. “I’ve always wanted to start my own business… I am very Math-minded, but really like the business aspect of things. After college, I really want to own some kind of my own business.”
PMHS Business Technology teacher Jennifer Cove is the advisor of the local FBLA chapter and has previously served as New Hampshire’s state team leader for four years. She stated this of Miller, “I have had the privilege of being Dillon’s teacher and advisor since his freshman year here at PMHS. He is inquisitive and intelligent in all matters academic. More importantly, he is kind. In a day and age where many push to the front of the line or believe that 'good guys finish last.' I am here to tell you that Dillon is good to the core of his being. He is kind. He cares. He listens. These are the very qualities that make him good and make him a leader."
For his part, Dillon is hoping to see more students get involved with FBLA next school year. “A lot of students don’t realize how much this club can do for them.” He is also planning to return to the national conference next year with Ms. Cove, which will be held in Orlando, FL. Dillon is hopeful that next year some other PMHS FBLA students might be joining him.