Shaler Area High School junior David Berdik will represent the school district in the Future Business Leaders of America’s National Leadership Conference after placing second in the state in the Desktop Application Programming category.

Berdik spent about two months to create and program an interface and database for a fictional animal shelter that would allow shelter employees to input information about incoming animals and print reports based on the information.

Berdik received scores for his written program and on his presentation at the State Leadership Conference, in Hershey, for which he earned second place and the opportunity to compete at nationals. This year’s National Leadership Conference will be held in Chicago, June 27 to July 2.

“Taking 2nd place in such a difficult event has made us proud beyond words,” said Lisa Klugh, business and information technology teacher at Shaler Area High School.

“We're so excited for him to get to show off his talents and represent Shaler Area in Chicago to the entire National FBLA community. We know that no matter how well he does there that he's put forth every effort he has and we couldn't ask for anything more.”