FEBRUARY 2019 EDITION
MOUNTAIN PLAINS NEWSLETTER brought to you by the 2018-2019 mountain plains council
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1- MPVP's Message 2-6- State Updates 7-10- Local Chapter Spotlights 11- Interactive Q+A 12- Tips for Partnerships With Businesses 13- National Secretary's Highlights 14- Middle Level: Planting the Seed 15-16- Share Your Story! 17- Concluding Page
MPVP'S MESSAGE
Greetings Future Business Leaders! I’m so excited to be bringing you the February Edition of the Mountain Plains Newsletter! I hope you all had a great FBLA-PBL week last week, and you're all getting hyped up for your state conferences this spring! Inside you will find all kids of different articles and pieces. We decided to do a little recap of FBLA week, so you can find a few member’s stories later in this issue. If you’re more into being knowledgeable about what's going on in each of the states, i encourage you to check out the State Updates or even the Local Chapter Spotlights, featuring the first chapters getting recognized this year! If you participated in the Q&A session or the polls on instagram, you can find the results also in this issue. Our council is so ecstatic to be sharing with you more regional news and to be back with our first regular issue for the 2019 year! We hope that you will use this issue to learn about the immense impacts that FBLA has had on other members. Additionally, If you ever need any advice on anything FBLA related, or just have questions, feel free to reach out to me or any of the other Mountain Plains Council Members, we would love to help! I hope you all enjoy the remainder of CTE month and continue to spread the FBLA message! Happy Reading! Kind Regards, Maddy Remington FBLA Mountain Plains Region Vice President, 2018-2019 fblampvp@fbla.org
STATE OF THE STATES COLORADO "In the first few months of 2019, Colorado FBLA has been busy finalizing and coordinating the 11 District Leadership Conferences that members attended this past January and February. Our District Leadership Conferences (DLC) were the qualifying conferences for members to attend the State Leadership Conference held in April. Following an exciting week filled with competition, networking, and lifelong skill development across the state, a few Colorado FBLA State Vice Presidents have recapped their speakers, venues, workshops, and other exciting aspects of their respective DLCs! Garrett Cockroft, District 4 Colorado: FBLA District 4 was proud to hold their annual conference at Northeastern Junior College located in Sterling, Colorado. Mother Nature unfortunately caused a delay to various chapters’arrivals, but thankfully members from 10 Colorado schools, presenters, and judges from across Northeastern Colorado made it safely to the conference. During the opening session of the conference,students were welcomed by Colorado FBLA State Vice President Representing District 4 Garrett Cockroft, State President Megan Waitman, along with the District 4 Officer team:Historian Ethan Ramey,District Social Media Representative Joe Beckner,District 4 Committee Members Brandon Durbin, Kylie Purkeypile, and Alexis Haney. After the opening session members attended various workshops, of those including“StepUp 2 The Workforce & Put Your Leadership Moves into Business Play!!”, “Network Your Way Through 52 Cards!”, “What’s Your Personal Brand?”, and “Shark Tank? No, It’s FBLA Tank!”, whilecompetingin their qualifying events. Following the workshops andcompetitive events, members were invited back to listen to the guest speaker, Mama Drill. Mama Drill spoke about how she got introduced to FBLA, life experiences, and encouraged members to “Autograph Your Work with Excellence!” The conference concluded with the presentation of awards for competitive events.
STATE OF THE STATES COLORADO (CONTINUED) "Sarayu Gangavelli, District 5: The Colorado FBLA District 5 Leadership Conference was a great success! With over 600 members attending, it was a very packed day. The conference started with Sandrine Vohra, Founder and CEO of MIKADO International, speaking to the students about the importance of diversity in the workplace. The conference also included two other workshops, one hosted by the Clue Room and the other by Eunice Brownlee. With the Clue Room, students needed to work in groups and use their networking and problemsolving skills to find a solution while under a time limit. Ms. Brownlee spoke about personal branding and using social media to market yourself. Additionally, members had the opportunityto meet with representatives from various colleges around Colorado. University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, Colorado State University, Metropolitan State University, and Johnson & Wales University all set up exhibition tables during the conference and were able to converse with students about what theirrespectiveschools have to offer. The conference came to an end with our closing session and awards. Congratulations to Cherokee Trail High School on winning the Conference Championship award and to Cherry Creek High School on winning the Highest Productivity award! George Cardenas, District 7: The Colorado FBLA District 7 Leadership Conference took place at the lovely campus of Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado with all of the FBLA chapters of Southeast Colorado in attendance. In the opening session, Jessie Funk presented a keynote speech on how to enhance your life with positivity and use this skill as a young professional. After the opening session, members were competing across campus and attending workshops! There was a variety of workshops that members were able to choose from; including beingable to learn how to implement skills like confidence and optimism as young professionals with Jessie Funk, assemble blankets and care packages for families at the Children's Hospital as part of the Colorado FBLA-DECA Week of Service, learn about the bond between agriculture and business with the help of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservation District (LAVWCD), and connect with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Safety on how to participate in a safe work environment. Once competitions and workshops were completed, members learned about the goals for Colorado FBLA such asincreasing CSA participation, increasing awareness of theColorado Relief Fund, and growingsupport for March of Dimes. Members especially enjoyed the minute-to-win-it games that took place in general session on top of learning about state ambitions. Once members gathered together after lunch, results of competitive events were presented on stage and specific advisers were recognized for their hard work. Colorado FBLA couldn’t be more excited to see all the hard work and dedication put forth by members these past few weeks at the District Leadership Conferences come to fruition at the State Leadership Conference in April!"
STATE OF THE STATES NEBRASKA Nebraska FBLA is pumped to kick off 2019! The state officer team met in early January to ring in the new year by planning for the State Leadership Conference, as well as other upcoming events. With many SLC deadlines approaching, chapters are hard at work preparing their competitive events for the opportunity to compete at the 2019 NLC in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, many chapters are gearing up to put their knowledge to the test at college business competitions to further prepare for SLC. Finally, the state officers met with the bright-eyed applicants at state officer screening day in early February to find the next leaders of Nebraska FBLA. The state officer team is looking forward to the months leading up to the State Leadership Conference and the success they bring!
STATE OF THE STATES NORTH DAKOTA North Dakota FBLA’s year has continued to go well during the winter, but we are hoping for spring soon! The recent weather has been brutally cold for our members, and we hope that all chapters experiencing the cold weather stay safe. This year, we have been recognizing chapters and members who have shown exemplary achievement and progress in the organization with our monthly awards. We have recognized a Chapter of the Month, a Middle Level Member of the Month, and an FBLA Member of the Month from each of our four regions. Chapters and members receive certificates and are recognized on the ND FBLA website and social media pages. The ND State Officer Team posts a monthly video to our YouTube channel to communicate with members. Recently, our Region III Vice President, Sydnee Anderson, made a vide outlining the qualifications and application process for those wanting to run for a state office at the ND FBLA State Leadership Conference. We can’t wait to see who our next ND FBLA leadership team will be! Our State Secretary, Corina Pabian, did her video about FBLA-PBL week and gave chapters ideas for using this week to its fullest potential by planning events and bringing awareness of FBLA-PBL to their communities. Many ND FBLA chapters celebrated FBLA-PBL Week and shared photos on their social media. Our State President, Savanna Friedt, shared her FBLA story and our State Director, Ms. DeVaal, was at the FBLA-PBL National Center for Spirit Day. To celebrate Career and Technical Education Month, our Region I Vice President and Mountain Plains Membership Director Kennedy Shereck gave a presentation to over four hundred North Dakota students in her area about how being a part of a Career and Technical Student Organization, like FBLA, has changed her life. Members of our ND FBLA State Officer team will also be attending CTE in Memorial Hall at the North Dakota Capitol building this month to network and share CTE with state lawmakers. North Dakota FBLA is excited to see the high-caliber competitors who will showcase their skills at the North Dakota State Leadership Conference in March. We wish good luck and good weather to all of the state chapters during their conferences as well.
STATE OF THE STATES SOUTH DAKOTA Hi everyone. It's your South Dakota State President Elise Heesch here. Here are some updates on what we have been doing recently. A new newsletter is being put together for our state, as we have installed a new reporter. So, we are starting to plan our State Leadership Conference. When deadlines are, have been set for when events are due and other such activities like workshops and guest speakers. Along with that we have Legislative Shadow Days coming up. This is a chance for South Dakota CTSO's to shadow a legislator during working hours. We meet them and learn about what they do in Pierre. Also, during the day the governor shares a few minutes of her time to come and take a group picture with us as well. A tour of the capitol building is also given. That is about all that South Dakota has been up to! Have a great rest of the year everyone!
TEXAS
During the months of January and February, Texas FBLA has been getting ready for our State Leadership Conference on March 7-9, as well as celebrating CTE month! The Texas State Action Team started off CTE month right, by advocating for Career and Technical Education to our state representatives in our state capitol in Austin, TX. We got to know a lot of the other CTSO State Officers and got to talk about our favorite thing: FBLA! During the month of January, each of our 7 Areas of Texas FBLA also hosted their respective Area Conferences and had tons of winners! We are excited to be hosting our State Leadership Conference in Houston, TX in the coming weeks and to see all the Texas FBLA member's hardwork come to fruitation at State!
LOCAL CHAPTER SPOTLIGHTS PLATTE VALLEY FBLA, COLORADO The Platte Valley High School FBLA Chapter located in Kersey, Colorado is a small high school chapter with unmeasurable success. Our chapter’s 2018-2019 membership totals over 50 members, an approximate 8:1 member-to-student ratio. In the past 15 years, we have had over 330 members compete at the State Leadership Conference, 46 National Qualifiers traveling all across the US, and 14 State Officers. Platte Valley FBLA’s Community Service Project is titled C.A.L.L. to Action, which stands for Community Action Lightens Loads. Our goal is to help clean up the community by assisting with yardwork and community events for the elderly, schools, church, and members of our community in need. The project began at the start of the school year; however, in the few short months of its start, many students – both members and non-members of FBLA – have joined the project’s activities on a weekly basis. Platte Valley FBLA is fortunate to be centered in a smalltown community which establishes relationships with so many members of the community through service activities and chapter events. Platte Valley FBLA also hosts the annual Trick or Treat Street, which has become a tradition for over 20 years and counting! The event allows elementary students to hang out with the high school FBLA members dressed in costumes, experience all the Halloween fun in a safe environment, and of course, enjoy some candy. There is always a great turn out, and our local Platte Valley FBLA chapter could not be more fortunate to serve such a tight-knit community! The FBLA organization continues to provide members with applicable community service opportunities, communication skills, and lifelong leadership traits to progress the future of our students. The deeply-rooted success and history of Platte Valley FBLA has brought all aspects of service, education, and progress to fruition through our service projects and chapter events, even in the small-town spotlight!
LOCAL CHAPTER SPOTLIGHTS WELLSVILLE FBLA, KANSAS Wellsville High School is located in rural Kansas south of Kansas City. With only 227 students grades 9-12, Wellsville FBLA has 110 members, roughly 48% of the student body, along with 5 professional members. With being a small, tight knit community with 1,800 citizens, Wellsville FBLA really focuses on the family unit. This past month our chapter has been working on our infamous 15th Annual Daddy Daughter Date Night, which was held on February 9th. Daddy Daughter Date Night is a way to bring fathers and young daughters (grades PreK-5th) together for dinner, dancing, and lots of fun. With over 200 planned attendees, FBLA had to work tirelessly to make sure everything was perfect. Once Winter Break was over, a committee broken down into five different groups was made. Each and everyday in seminar the committee met and got straight to work. Members had to decide on a theme, plan out the decor, make the playlist, and communicate with the WHS kitchen staff on what was going to be served for dinner. The event itself was a success, with lots of happy father and daughter couples. All the hardwork and dedication was appreciated throughout the community. Wellsville FBLA can not wait to carry on with this tradition to bring together the family unit, along with various others such the Mommy/Daughter Fashion Show, Daddy/Son Laser Tag, Mommy/Son Duck Soup, and many more.
LOCAL CHAPTER SPOTLIGHTS AUBURN FBLA, NEBRASKA The Auburn, Nebraska FBLA chapter has been having an amazing year! We have been busy serving our community, preparing for the Nebraska State Leadership Conference in April, and eating pizza at our monthly chapter meetings. From what we’ve heard, from many other chapters in our state, we do our monthly meetings a little differently. On the third Thursday of every month, we host our lunch and chapter meetings. During the chapter member’s lunch periods, they come to the business room where they enjoy pizza, assorted fruits/ vegetables, cookies, and drinks. While students eat lunch, they listen to a guest speaker from our business that we partnered with this year. This year, we partnered with the Nemaha County Hospital. Through this partnership, students have been able to hear from family physicians, nurses, dieticians, marketing managers, and radiologists. The speakers have shared their career journey, the reality of medical school, as well as touching on job shadow opportunities. The speakers are always hit! The students love getting to meet new community members, learn about the road of college ahead of them, and it wouldn’t be a lunch meeting if someone didn’t ask about the most disgusting case they’ve ever had! After the lunch periods, we have a school-wide study hall for grades 9-12. During that time we have our chapter’s monthly business meetings were we discuss upcoming events, hand out our monthly newsletter, and play our infamous beach ball ice- breaker. We’re so lucky to have such an amazing chapter, filled with amazing members who love serving the community that has served them for the last 15 or so years. We’re one, big, pizza-loving chapter!
LOCAL CHAPTER SPOTLIGHTS JOHNSON FBLA, TEXAS Hello readers! My name is Kyra Rose, the current Texas FBLA reporter historian, and I am here to highlight my FBLA chapter. On behalf of my whole chapter, I would like to thank our Mountain Plains Region VP for this opportunity to tell the rest of the region about the wonderful things we do here in my chapter. First off I would like to name off a couple of quick facts about my chapter. We are located in San Antonio, Texas, aka the location of Nationals this year (yay!), and reside at Johnson High School. Our sponsor is Carrie TurnerGray, the current president of the Board of Directors, who also sponsors another club here at Johnson, the Key Club. We have an amazing officer team that houses a current state officer and two potential candidates for next year’s state and national office positions. We are very excited to serve as their support system through this process, and hopefully see them go on to help run our successful organization. Our chapter strives in 3 main areas: fundraising, community service, and our area competitions. We do tons of fundraising here at Johnson. One of our big ones that we do every year is Gourmet Popcorn. We use this fundraiser as a means of helping our members pay for state, and later on nationals for those who qualify. For every bag of popcorn a member sells half of the profit goes to our FBLA funds and the other half goes towards the members personal cost for state. We love this fundraiser because each bag of popcorn is only $2, so it is easy to sell, and the popcorn is very yummy! We also participate in a fundraiser with Al’s Nuts and Steel City Pops in union with Key Club, they other club sponsored by Ms. Turner-Gray. A lot of our fundraisers have to do with food, because who doesn't love food? I know I do! Since our club sponsor, Ms. Turner-Gray, sponsors Key Club (a community service club) or FBLA chapter does a lot of the same community service events they do. Our favorite service event would have to be the Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide prevention. This event is one that hits very close to Ms. Turner-Gray’s heart, hence why we participate every year. We always have a wonderful time walking/running the walk, passing out water, and checking in runners! It’s a time that we all look forward to every year and love helping out in! Not only is Ms.Turner-Gray the sponsor of two clubs and the president of the Board of Directors, but she is also a business teacher here at Johnson and a big reason why we are so successful in area competitions. Ms. Turner-Gray helps produce some of the amazing students a that go one to join FBLA. They already come with a vast knowledge of the business world and produce great projects, videos, and test scores that go on to compete at state. We are so excited to compete this year and show the rest of Texas wha Johnson has to offer, so get ready because here we come! Thank you for reading about our chapter here at Johnson! See you at Nationals!
INTERACTIVE Q&A
What city and state are you from? Fort Worth, TX Favorite internet meme/trend? the sad cowboy emoji meme Besides FBLA, what other clubs or activities do you participate in? National Honor Society, SkillsUSA, Photography & ASL Club Who or what made you join FBLA? My best friend told me about this really awesome business club that she was in and about all the cool things that FBLA did. I decided to join because of the immense community service, business and competition opportunities available, and I overall just wanted to grow my soft skills while making new friends along the way. Why did you decide to run for a national office? I decided to run for national office because I wanted to contribute more to the organization. My passion and dedication for FBLA grew immensely when I began to get more involved in the organization and as an officer, I learned so many valuable life lessons and teamwork skills. FBLA gave me new friends, new experiences and overall grew me as both a leader and a professional. I decided, because of all that FBLA gave me, I should try to give back more to the organization. I knew I wanted to run for national office because I loved the organization and I knew I wanted to be a crucial component of FBLA. FBLA has been one of the most beneficial and important aspects of my high school experience and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve our membership this year as a national officer. What are you most excited for as a national officer? As a national officer this year, I’m very excited to bring new ideas and perspectives together across the nation. I hope during my term I can help connect with people not only across my region, but across the nation. FBLA has been such an impactful organization for me, so I’m grateful to get to contribute to the impact FBLA will have on others. I hope to serve the membership this year as best as possible and I’m very excited to roll out all the events and programs our national team has been working on. I’m jubilant to help our members create, lead and inspire in their own lives and communities this year with FBLA!
POLL RESULTS
What do you love most about FBLA? @sshriver_fbla - The networking opportunities to make new friends @katelynsott - Meeting new people! And nationals!! @sydnee.anderson - The people!!! @theoliviamadeline - Networking and making friends! @puppypower623 - Meeting everyone who enjoys the same things I do @carlosmichel57 - The people @kshereck_fbla - The limitless opportunities to learn and grow as a leader @madyson_ray - The people Which would you rather complete: BAA/CSA Kennedy’s Poll - BAA: 18 CSA: 8 Sadie’s Poll - BAA: 8 CSA: 4 Drake’s Poll - BAA: 26 CSA: 9 Percent: BAA: 71.2% CSA: 28.8% Which conference do you look forward to the most: FLC/SLC Kennedy’s Poll - FLC: 4 SLC: 22 Sadie’s Poll - FLC: 0 SLC: 10 Drake’s Poll - FLC: 2 SLC: 36 Percent: FLC: 8.1% SLC: 91.9%
Which conference is the most fun: NFLC/NLC Kennedy’s Poll - NFLC: 3 NLC: 25 Sadie’s Poll - NFLC: 2 NLC: 10 Drake’s Poll - NFLC: 9 NLC: 26 Percent: NFLC: 18.7% NLC 81.3% Have you ever competed at NLC: YES/NO Kennedy’s Poll - YES: 20 NO: 8 Sadie’s Poll - YES: 9 NO: 5 Drake’s Poll - YES: _ NO: _ Percent: YES: 69% NO: 31%
TIPS FOR RELATIONSHIPS W/ BUSINESSES
FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS Bringing you the monthly national and state programs you can get involved in! ***Brought to you by the National Secretary's Council*** Stay up to date with www.fblaconnect.org February 1–28 National Career and Technical Education Month February 3-9 FBLA-PBL Week February 3 Share your FBLA-PBL Story Day February 4 Webinar: National Presidents’ Forum Virtual Business Finance Spring Challenge competitive event begins Virtual Business Management Spring Challenge competitive event begins February 5 Each One Reach One Day February 6 Adviser Appreciation Day/Professional Attire Day February 7 Career Awareness Day February 8 FBLA-PBL Spirit Day February 9 Community Service Day February 19 Spring Stock Market Game Registration deadline February 21 Tomorrow’s Business Leader—spring issue copy deadline February 22 LifeSmarts Spring Competition ends
MIDDLE LEVEL - PLANTING THE SEED
SHARE YOUR STORY! #FBLAWEEK
SHARE YOUR STORY! #FBLAWEEK
THANKS FOR READING! We're so excited to share regional news with you! #mountainplainsgains
FOR A CHANCE TO BE FEATURED IN THE NEXT ISSUE, SIMPLY EMAIL FBLAMPVP@FBLA.ORG