However, Homestead did place just ahead of New Jersey.

"Last year, we sent 30 kids to the national conference, which is more than we've ever sent," says Byron Lee, Homestead's advisor. "But we were still beating out schools that sent 90 competitors."

FBLA is a national organization that trains high school students in business practices and pits them against other clubs in competitions. Homestead has greatly succeeded at the latter, and hopes to place ahead of even more states at the upcoming national conference in July. Having just won their sixth consecutive state championship, they've definitely got the momentum.

The 132 FBLA members at Homestead spend hours working on projects or studying for the exams they face at conventions, in subject areas such as business law and economics.

But these teenagers don't see it as a burden—they thrive on competition. "My mom knows that I won't be around at all the week before a competition," says senior Angela Contreras. "We all end up so tired, but it's a good kind of tired. We call these projects our babies."

One of the projects that characterizes Homestead is its American Enterprise Project, which every FBLA club completes to teach the principles of capitalism, traditionally to middle school students.

But A.J. Lee (no relation to Byron, the club's advisor), the project's chairperson for this year, chose to aim a little older. He decided to teach practical business skills to adult participants in Sunday Friends, a nonprofit organization that sponsors programs for homeless and low-income families on Sunday afternoons in downtown San Jose.

Janis Baron, the executive director of Sunday Friends, says that Homestead's FBLA approached her about the project.

"I was utterly amazed at the initiative and confidence of these students," Baron says. "It takes a lot of courage to come and sit down with a table of adults who don't necessarily speak the same language as you do." Homestead students held seminars on Sundays for several months on topics such as how to dress for a job interview and how to fill out a job application.

Baron says the response was great, especially among the mothers in the program. "It wasn't just what they were teaching," she says. "[The participants] were happy to feel like they were helping these high school students on their way."

Another aspect of the program goes a little younger than normal. Every Monday, Homestead FBLA members met with a fourth-grade class at Lakewood Elementary School in San Jose. They taught the young students how to create a business and present their plan to the class. "We wanted to step out of the box and try something new," Lee says.

At the beginning of the project, the fourth graders took a business assessment test. The average score was 6.23 out of 20. The test was administered again at the end of the project with an average score of 15. But that doesn't take into account the relationships that developed. "We got really close," Lee says. "The kids gave us Christmas presents and thank-you cards."

Homestead's American Enterprise Project placed first in the state competition this year.

"Most of the credit should go to our advisor," says Bhavna Muthangi, the club's president.

But in response, advisor Lee points to his 21-member officer team. "They're the ones who make it happen," he says.