The past 16 years have provided a long stretch of wins for the Moorpark High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America and with an upcoming state competition, its members aren't letting up now.

Adviser Zosia Blair said the 43 students who qualified from the March 3 sectional competition to go to state this week, Thursday through Sunday, have been hard at work studying, practicing and performing.

"I think what amazes me each year about this team is we don't offer the classes at the high school," Blair said. "They check out books. They have to teach themselves accounting, or management decision-making. Because of that, they get together in study groups, but they really are teaching themselves these topics. They do have natural skills but they put in a lot of hard work. It's impressive."

Moorpark's FBLA team has won its section title 16 years in a row. This year's section competition featured 29 events and 800 competitors from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. About 100 students attended from Moorpark High School's FBLA.

Last year, the team finished ninth overall at the state competition, which will be held in Santa Clara this year. Blair said the team has a good shot at a strong finish, but it won't be easy.

"State is extremely competitive. There are hundreds of schools at state every year," she said.

Events in the FBLA competition include performance events like interviewing and parliamentary procedures, as well as tested events like accounting practices and computer programming. Members compete in teams and individually, depending on the event.

Blair said the tests are very hard.

"There are 100 multiple-choice questions to be completed in 60 minutes for each of the written tests. Some of the first-place winners will have a score of 47 out of 100. They are very, very difficult tests. People who study the hardest know the stuff like the back of their hand."

Ryan Pinaro hopes to repeat his last year's trip to the national competition.

The senior competed in Nashville in the Visual Basic Programming event, after finishing second in the state competition. He will again compete at state in visual.

"It was pretty awe-inspiring how good people are at things, how big an event it really is and how big a club it is," he said.

FBLA seeks to prepare its members for the business world, said club President Carolyn Chow. There are 153 members in the Moorpark High School chapter.

"It's technically a business club, but not all the members have to be interested in business. Most people join it because it looks good on the college applications, but most people stay in it because they realize how fun it is."

As Blair's daughter, Alex Portanova knew about FBLA from watching her mother work with the students. When Alex, now 16 and a senior, started at Moorpark High School, she knew she wanted to join FBLA for "the opportunities it gives you."

"I think it's one of the best groups on campus," she said. "It allows you to make friends with other people interested in business and to have opportunities to meet businesspeople at all the sections."

Alex wrote about her experiences with FBLA on her college application essay.

"I want to be a veterinarian," she said. "FBLA really does prepare you for a world outside of high school. There really are not a lot of opportunities for students to dress professionally. If I had not been in this organization, I just don't think I would be able to introduce myself into the business world as sufficiently prepared. I learned how to carry myself and deal with other professionals in business."

Jake Finch's e-mail address is alljake@hotmail.com.