Nebraska FBLA Pledge - Fall 2016

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Pledge Fall 2016

Jacqui Garrison, FBLA State Adviser 402-471-4865 jacqui.garrison@nebraska.gov nebraskafbla.org @NebraskaFBLA CMYK / .ai

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Nebraska FBLA @nebraskafbla

2016-17 State Officer Team Ojus Jain, President John Willey, Vice President Alex Seigel, Secretary Riley Knust, Reporter Blake Langmack, Treasurer Hundter Biede, Parliamentarian

Happy 75th Birthday FBLA-PBL Welcome Nebraska FBLA to another exciting school year! This year is special because FBLA-PBL is turning 75! To celebrate, your state officers want to “SPARK” A Legacy of Leadership that propels Nebraska FBLA to meet all our state goals.

Over the summer, your state staff members made major (and impressive) changes to our communication tools. The first (which I hope you’ve already noticed) is a redesigned look of our state newsletter, The Pledge. I’d like to thank the officers for their vision to deliver important FBLA news in new ways, like our magazine style format, links and videos. Our goal is to help you quickly navigate your way to important FBLA digital sources, like our redesigned website (another huge change!).

The new site aims to bring you FBLA news, updates and forms on any device. The site is mobile compatible, easy to navigate, and simply looks better! Click on the image and I’ll personally take you on quick video tour. (Subscribe to our channel while you’re there!)

These changes sparked an idea to add new competitive events for high school and middle level competitors at SLC. For the first time, you can compete in 3-D Animation, Advertising, Journalism, Organizational Leadership, and Social Media Campaign at the high school level during the State Leadership Conference (SLC).

At the FBLA Middle Level (ML), we replaced Spelling, Proofreading, and Keyboarding Applications with events students can receive national recognition for: ML Business Applications, ML Career Exploration, and ML Keyboarding Applications II. To receive national recognition, you must be a registered member of a Middle Level Chapter.

(Find out how to start one here.)

Our Nebraska Fall Leadership Conference will definitely “SPARK” your leadership and communication skills. While members attend a great lineup of workshops, advisers will learn more about the new state competitive events during their advisers workshop. Register now - the link is below. I wish you the best this school year as we “SPARK” A Legacy of Leadership across the state of Nebraska and continue to put Nebraska FBLA at the top of the leaderboard at the national level!

Sparking Leadership, Jacqui

Garrison

register by september 9 for flc

Click Here

Quick Links to august FEATURES National Officer Greetings State Goals Ojus’s Outlook SOLA Recap T-shirt Design Contest Fall Leadership Conference Info Hundter’s Hotline Legacy Leaders Blake’s Broadcast

Willey’s World Admirable Advisers Success Stories Seigel’s Sanctuary Next Gen Leadership Summit ‘17 Champion Chapters Riley’ Report NLC Recap

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Meet your 2016-17 national officer team Your National Officer Team is proud to welcome Nebraska FBLA into the 2016-2017 membership year. As one of the premier chapters in the Mountain Plains and the entire nation, Nebraska FBLA truly exemplifies A Legacy of Leadership.

All in all, the National Officer team is enthused to service the members of FBLA as we celebrate our organization’s 75th anniversary. We wish you the best of luck throughout the year, and we look forward to networking with you all soon.

Like your State Officer Team, your National Officer Team met this summer in Washington D.C to plan the FBLA year.

They participated in team building activities, networked with the National Senators and Representatives, established the year’s Program of Work, and forged connections with the National Staff. Needless to say, the National Team has a phenomenal year planned.

As you may know, Nebraska’s State President Ojus Jain is further serving FBLA as the Mountain Plains Regional Vice President this coming year. He plans on working closely with Nebraska members, officers, and chapters through the “Home State Advantage” program to propel Nebraska FBLA to unforeseen heights, and solidify Nebraska’s place as one of FBLA’s greatest chapters. We truly look forward to what he has in store for Nebraska FBLA and the chapters across the region.

2016-2017 National Officer Team

apply to attend national fall leadership conference

Click Here

S. P. A. R. K. your legacy of leadership: 2016-17 State Goals S tr iv e

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Utilize new website resources

10% participation in the BAA’s or CSA’s per chapter

100% of chapters submission participation to the Pledge or blog

25,000 hours tallied in Tally It Up $20,000 in donations to the March of Dimes $14,000 in donations to the Nebraska FBLA Foundation

Amplify Social Media presence Competitive event preparation resources

Recruit 6,000 total Nebraska FBLA members 5 new chapters

Expand the college Business Competition events

2 new Middle Level chapters and have them attend SLC

Update the online Competitive Event resources

50 new Competitive Event Sponsors

Kickstart 50% of Nebraska Chapters participate in the national project, Diamond Chapters Reach 1,000 followers of the new Nebraska FBLA Instagram account

With the FBLA membership year just over the horizon, it’s time for our Nebraska chapters to gear up for the year ahead, buckle down, and pave their Legacy of Leadership. Integral to Nebraska FBLA’s 20162017 program of work is increasing our total membership by record-breaking numbers. Although we continue to grow annually as a chapter, this year we strive to set a legacy - a legacy of excellence.

ojus's outlook

However, membership recruitment is not a particularly easy feat; thus, the State Officer Team has developed a few tips and tricks to follow this membership year: Advertise Membership Benefits There are many tangible and intangible benefits that come along with being an FBLA member. Whether it be the countless business, leadership, and general life skills that members acquire or retail discounts such as 50% to the Men’s Warehouse, FBLA members reap many rewards from their participation in the organization. By advertising those benefits to potential members, you are providing a clear incentive for individuals to join and participate.

Sola Sparked a Legacy of Leadership Just weeks after being elected, your 2016-2017 State Officer Team traveled to Kearney in May to participate in Nebraska CTSO’s State Officer Leadership Academy (SOLA.) SOLA is a four day leadership training conference for State Officers for a variety of CTSOs: FBLA, HOSA, DECA, EdRising, and FCCLA. By connecting leaders of varying organizations, SOLA truly aims to bring Nebraska together and boost the success of every student group.

During SOLA, the State Officer Team worked to plan the 2016-17 FBLA membership year. Conferences were discussed, ribbon projects evaluated, and our State Program of Work is set so that Nebraska FBLA can hit the ground running after NLC. The State Program of Work was built around the word “S.P.A.R.K.” - inspired by FBLA’s 75th year anniversary theme: A Legacy of Leadership and selected by you via our Twitter poll.

SOLA gives State Officers invaluable insight, and is an integral aspect of ensuring the continued excellence, leadership, and legacy of Nebraska FBLA.

Develop a Robust Social Media Presence As our membership continues to envelop themselves in technology, social media continues to emerge as the new, premier avenue for advertisement. When a brand (in our case FBLA) is continuously presented to potential members, then members begin to formulate a relationship with that brand (FBLA) prior to even joining our organization. However, the biggest challenge with social media is producing quality content that intrigues the readers. So make sure, if your chapter plans on using social media techniques for membership recruitment, then your content is something the members will value.

Use Personal Anecdotes One of the best way to connect with the general membership is by communicating previous member’s experiences within FBLA. If your chapter has members that have been personally impacted by participating in FBLA, then have those members share that experience with potential recruits. The more personal our organization appears to be, the more members will participate.

Be sure to follow our Nebraska FBLA social feeds for more on this topic. Best of luck to your chapters in increasing membership, and paving your Legacy of Leadership this coming membership year.

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free slc registration given to t-shirt design winner The annual SLC t-shirt design competition is looking for talented FBLA members. Enter your t-shirt design using the following guidelines:

Please email designs in .jpg format to Pat Hinkle, Bellevue West FBLA, at hinklepat@gmail.com. Please include the following in your email:

Design should include a front only

Your Name

Design should be broad enough to include all Nebraska

School

Design may or may not include the Nebraska FBLA state theme: A Legacy of Leadership

School Phone Number Adviser Name

Design should include the words, “2017 SLC”

Adviser Email

Use any electronic software to create the design

2016-17 annual dues deadline: october 1 $4 state dues + $6 national dues = $10 Our FBLA National Officers are looking for members who want to become more involved in FBLA on the national level by serving on a National Council.

There are nine different councils to choose from, each with slightly different responsibilities. It’d be great to see Nebraska students extend A Legacy of Leadership to the National Councils. Check out my video to learn more and find out how to apply. (Spoiler: There’s a link on our homepage.)

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Legacy Leaders Arlington Brad Ernesti is a dedicated member committed to improving our chapter and community by organizing service projects and guiding younger members to success in FBLA. Blair Anne Goodman is an active and dedicated member who volunteers to help with numerous service projects and she competed at NLC in Introduction to Business Procedures.

Dundy County Stratton Payton Zarkowski has earned her Future and Business level BAAs, is active in local community service projects, and is always willing to help when needed. She will serve as the chapter’s treasurer for the 2016-17 year.

Gibbon Vicky Gaona is serving as our FCCLA Representative to our FBLA Chapter for the 2016-17 school year. Vicky is always full of great ideas and willing to volunteer and be role model for our members.

Lakeview Blair Stuthman is a vital part to the Lakeview Chapter because she steps up and commits to as much as she can in all situations, even if it means doing the dirty work that nobody cares to do.

Omaha Marian Megan Anderson will be serving at Omaha Marian FBLA’s Chapter President for the upcoming school year, has attended the State Leadership Conference twice, and was voted the Chapter’s Sophomore and Junior member of the year the past two school years.

Syracuse Anna Kastens was named the chapter’s outstanding junior member for her active involvement. She also qualified for NLC and will serve as chapter secretary.

Twin River Payton Cherry stepped up the Presidential position very well when she put her leadership skills into action to find volunteers to help with school tours and serve a meal at our annual Alumni Banquet in Genoa.

Nebraska FBLA is constantly expanding with new chapters joining every year. Sometimes starting fresh isn’t the easiest task to undertake. Luckily, I have three tips to help a new chapter get started.

Find a mentor chapter.

Nebraska FBLA has a little over 140 chapters (all listed here) across the state, so finding one shouldn’t be a challenge.

Host a chapter launch party.

Many students may not yet know a new chapter has been assembled. Get creative (as long as its within school rules) about sharing the good news of your chapter’s arrival at your school.

Explore FBLA’s digital and social media.

FBLA has a lively presence on social media where you may find fundraising ideas, best practices used by other chapters, competitive events or even inspiration for chapter projects.

These simple tips should be able to help any chapter - new or not - flourish. We’re glad you joined Nebraska FBLA and hope your chapter thrives!

Sing the National Anthem at SLC 2017 Submit the application form

+ Audition CD of your a cappella solo of the National Anthem Send to Jan Went Lakeview High School 3744 - 83rd Street Columbus, NE 68601

Deadline: December 1

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Pledge Chapter projects are designed to connect chapters with business professioals and community members, and allow chapters to work together to achieve FBLA greatness.

American Enterprise Project.

The project must promote awareness of some facet of the American enterprise system within the school and/or community and be designed for chapter participation.

There are four chapter projects eligible for SLC and NLC awards. All chapter projects consist of 15 page reports. The top eight chapter reports will earn a chance to compete in a performance component at SLC. From there, the top three will qualify for NLC. At both conferences, your report score plus performance scored are combined for final placing.

Local Chapter Annual Business Report.

It consists of a 15-page report of everything that your chapter has completed in the last FBLA year (Past SLC to Current SLC.) *This project is the only project that does not have a

Community Service Project.

An act of community service completed by your entire chapter.

Partnership with Business Project.

A chapter chooses a business in the community to partner with to complete various activities.

performance component at either SLC or NLC.

The completion of these projects is crucial for completing state and national projects/ribbon events. To all chapters that decide to complete a chapter project I wish you the best of luck and look forward to seeing you on stage at SLC and NLC!

download the fbla chapter handbook

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Admirable Advisers Adams Central

Arlington

Lakeview

Tri County

Mr. Shawn Mulligan is constantly striving to make the chapter the best it can be by making the organization exciting for everyone.

Mrs. Shawna Koger is devoted to equipping members with the skills and resources necessary to be successful in FBLA competition as well as in the world of business.

Mrs. Jan Went continues to advise the largest chapter in Nebraska by putting in ineffable hours of passionate work with her officer team and chapter members.

Mr. Dennis Krejci’s passion for FBLA is what drives his chapter’s success and has been a crucial part of the legacy of leadership built by the Tri County Chapter.

Success StorY: Arlington The Arlington chapter promoted the joy of reading to young students at Arlington Elementary through their Summer Story Hour Program. Each Wednesday morning, chapter members read to about 25 students at the Arlington Public Library. They also delivered educational activities, and helped children check out books to read on their own.

The goal of the project was to promote education and serve the community. Members wanted to help kids retain reading skills while having fun. The high weekly return rate of kids proved that Arlington FBLA was meeting their goal.

They plan to continue the program and hopes to attract even more students.

Success StorY: dundy county stratton “On Your Mark, Get Set… Read!” was the theme of the Summer Reading Program (SRP) hosted by the Dundy County Stratton FBLA Chapter. Nearly 50 preschool and elementary-aged children attended the weekly program where chapter members read books, led a craft project, and played games. Children were encouraged to check out three books and keep a log of the books he or she read.

For every three books read, the child was recognized on a library bulletin board.

The chapter received financial support from the Hester Foundation, which provided funds to purchase one new book for each child who participated.

The program’s legacy of leadership was evident as many of the current members fondly remembered attending the SRP when they were young. It was meaningful for them to lead the program and help ignite a passion for reading.

FBLA Members Olivia Sis and Madison Lambley read to the school-age children at the Summer Reading Program.

Success StorY: lakeview Building and sustaining a legacy is important to Lakeview students, as well as the entire community. For a decade, the chapter’s Blue Pride Card fundraiser has helped link the two together, and has grown more popular year after year.

The cards feature promotions and discounts from 55 area businesses that can be used repeatedly within a year.

These cards have truly embedded themselves into the Lakeview culture - residents look forward to buying them.

As a result, the cards have generated thousands of dollars for the Lakeview FBLA chapter, contributing to its legacy of fundraising excellence. Likewise, the chapter’s healthy financial position has helped it grow to be Nebraska’s largest chapter and allowed students to take full advantage of FBLA and its offerings.

A Lakeview FBLA member delivers a Blue Pride Card. Residents commonly start asking for the cards before they are even ready.

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Winning awards at NLC doesn’t magically happen when we arrive at the conference. Our success starts now and I hope you’re all setting goals and getting the prep work started. However, don’t limit yourself individual competitive events. There are several national projects and ribbons to set your sights on, including one created specifically for the 2016-2017 75th FBLA anniversary: the Diamond Chapter Award! This national ribbon project is available to chapters who complete 10 of the 19 designated diamond chapter activities (found on the link below).

seigel's sanctuary

Award, uploading an article to a nationally recognized FBLA-PBL publication, and creating and submitting a chapter recruitment plan.

Additionally, your chapter must submit 7 more activities from a list of 16. These activities range from recruiting 75% of the underclassmen in your school to join FBLA to meeting with a local or state official and sharing the experience on Instagram or Twitter (tag #FBLAPBL75).

I’m confident that Nebraska has many chapters willing to work as a team to earn Diamond Chapter recognition. I challenge our state to earn more Diamond Chapters than any other state. Let’s claim the stage in Anaheim!

(The due date for the Diamond Chapter Award is April 1st, so if you get on top of the game right now, you’ll have it done in no time.)

This project awards schools who are focused on the growth and development of their local chapter. The first requirement is to earn the Membership Achievement

learn more about earning a diamond chapter award

click here

Next Generation Leadership Summit 2017 Food Insecurity is a pervasive issue that affects Nebraskans every day, as over 13% of Nebraskans are food insecure. The luxury of coming home after school or a local chapter meeting to a comforting meal is not one that every Nebraska child enjoys.

As future leaders of our state and nation, we have the unique opportunity to help change the reality of food insecurity. We invite you to apply to attend The Next Generation Leadership Summit (NGLS).

NGLS is a day-long conference in January featuring a panel of influential leaders and experts striving to find ways to eliminate food insecurity. The conference extends beyond a traditional workshop environment: NGLS will challenge the bright minds of Nebraska in unexpected ways and give members opportunities to network with State Officer Teams from all Career and Technical Student Organizations.

Applications for NGLS 2017 will be available soon and promoted via our social media channels. Your day at NGLS will give you new perspective on this very real issue facing our communities. Participants selected to attend are also recognized at SLC.

Champion Chapters Arlington Arlington FBLA works with Red Wheel Fundraising each year. This local company, based in Arlington, distributes frozen food products and allows chapter members to sell them for a profit each year.

Blair Blair FBLA sells Pastry Puffins every fall to help members raise funds to cover their fees for the State Leadership Conference. Many members are able to raise enough to cover their entire SLC fee.

Dundy County Stratton Each fall, Dundy County Stratton FBLA members sell Little Caesar’s pizza kits, bread kits, and cookie dough. The Chapter earns $5 for each kit sold.

Gibbon The chapter joined the Gibbon Chamber of Commerce to cohost the Gibbon 4th of July community barbecue. Chapter members set up tables, collected money, served food, and cleaned up after the event. The chapter earned visibility and money to use for chapter events and conferences.

attend the Path to Success Conference

Lakeview In June, the Lakeview Officer team visited dozens of local businesses to sell ad spots for the chapter’s annual Blue Pride Cards. A longstanding fundraiser, the chapter generates profit while promoting local businesses.

November 22

Twin River The chapter raffled Nebraska football tickets generously donated by an officer’s family. The money raised will help students attend the State Leadership Conference.

UNL City Union

Along with the new designs for the Nebraska FBLA website and The Pledge, I’m super excited to introduce our state blog.

The state officers believe this will be a great way for the entire Nebraska FBLA delegation to stay connected and highlight the great work happening within our chapters in a completely new way.

You can submit your chapter article at any time (read: no deadlines!) by clicking on News > Submit Chapter News from the FBLA site. You will need a username and password, by the way.

Be sure to select “Chapter News” from the dropdown menu of categories when making your chapter’s submission. This automatically submits the article to the blog, where it will be reviewed and approved before going live. Each month, a chapter’s article will be featured on the Nebraska FBLA homepage.

Nebraska FBLA is ecstatic about the improvements being made to further the great tradition and the Legacy of Leadership that our state chapter has established!

The Pledge is published three times a year by the Nebraska Future Business Leaders of America. (August, December, March) Submit your articles at nebraskafbla.org > News > Submit Chapter News RILEY KNUST Nebraska FBLA Reporter reporter@nebraskafbla.org

JACQUI GARRISON Nebraska FBLA Adviser jacqui.garrison@nebraska.gov

It is the policy of Nebraska FBLA not to discriminate on the basis of gender, handicap, race, color, religion, marital status, age or national or ethnic origin in its education programs, membership policies, or other administered programs.

9 am to 2 pm

Hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln PBL Chapter

National Leadership Conference recap It was easy to connect with Nebraska delegates during the 2016 FBLA National Leadership Conference in Atlanta back in June - with 360 members, ours was one of the larger delegations present.

The conference hosted 12,000 attendees serving up intense competition. Nebraska delegates competed in 65 different events and earned 18 Top Ten awards and a long list of other honors and awards.

In addition to competing, our members savored Atlanta culture and industry, which started with a tour of CNN. We learned the history of the organization, which is among the oldest and largest news outlets in the world, saw where

writers research new stories, and learned how CNN’s broadcast systems work.

We toured the MLK Jr. Historical Site, including King’s childhood home and burial site. This humbling experience coincided with the start of competitive events, inspiring many members to perform their best.

And, to complete the trip, the delegation attended an Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field.

Anaheim, California will host NLC 2017 next June, and your State Officers hope Nebraska will send even more members and bring home even more awards.

see the Full list of Nebraska award winners

# NLC16FBLA