PEQUANNOCK FBLALOCAL ANNUAL CHAPTER BUSINESS REPORT

www.pequannockfbla.org CHAPTER 2880 - NEW JERSEY

2017 - 2018

Table of ContentsIntroduction

State of the Chapter ................................................................................................................................................ 2Membership................................................................................................................................................................ 3School & Community............................................................................................................................................... 4Chapter Organization.............................................................................................................................................. 4

Activities to Benefit Chapter & Its MembersPequannock Township FBLA Program of Work.............................................................................................. 5Recruitment Activities............................................................................................................................................. 6Leadership Development....................................................................................................................................... 7Career Exploration & Preparation........................................................................................................................ 8Business Partnerships.............................................................................................................................................. 9Chapter Fundraising................................................................................................................................................. 10Public Relation Activities & Chapter Publicity................................................................................................. 11

Activities to Benefit Other Individuals and OrganizationsState and National Projects.................................................................................................................................... 12Other Community Service Projects..................................................................................................................... 13

Conference & RecognitionParticipation in FBLA Conferences....................................................................................................................... 14Other Chapter & Individual Recognitions Earned ........................................................................................ 14Competitive Event Winners & Participants........................................................................................................ 15

State of the Chapter

Juliet O’HareFBLA President

Dear Pequannock Township FBLA Chapter Members,

As Pequannock Township Future Business Leaders of America President, I am pleased to welcome you all into Pequannock Township High School’s chapter of Future Business Leaders of America. Our chapter is filled with numerous opportunities to get involved throughout the school, the com-

munity, and the organization. FBLA enables you to network with thousands of stu-dents across the nation, learn about several business careers, and, of course, grow in your leadership skills.

Pequannock FBLA strives to set up our members for success at every level of the organization. We take great pride in the regional, state, and national awards that we have received throughout the years as our chapter has expanded. Allowing our members to compete at each level has given them so many opportunities to learn from all of the other members around the country. Our members have also been exposed to several keynote speakers, workshops, and seminars at the many leadership conferences that we have attended. Over the years, our attendance and participation at these conferences has expanded tremendously. The first time our chapter attended a State Leadership Conference was in 2011 when we had two competitors attend. Now, only seven years later, we have 77 members attending the upcoming conference in March. It has been so reward-ing to watch our chapter grow to become one of the most successful chapters in the state.

Another big component of our chapter that we pride ourselves on is our connection with the community. In order to integrate our members with business professionals in the area, we created the Sponsor Pequannock program, which gives us an opportunity to interact with local business owners and display their advertisements around our football field. We also enjoy connecting with the other members of our community through community service. Our most popular event that we host is called the Intergenerational Prom. Each year we invite senior citizens in our community to our cafeteria for a prom with our members and it is a great way to give back to the community. We offer them a free night of dancing, food, and music; every year they are eager to come back to enjoy a night with our students.

Once again, I would like to welcome you to Pequannock FBLA! I hope you are eager to get involved, and I hope to see you at the next general member meeting! I am very excited for a successful year, and I am confident that our chapter will achieve even more than it ever has before!

Sincerely,

Juliet O’Hare

Introduction | Page 2

Membership

Pequannock Future Business Leaders of America represents Chapter 2880, and is composed of over 180 mem-bers for the 2017-1018 school year. Yet again, our chapter is not only one of the largest in New Jersey, but also the largest organization present within our school. Pequannock FBLA has a wide assortment of students with all differ-ent strengths, weaknesses, and involve-ment. We offer various activities such as monthly meetings, community ser-vice projects, sponsored events, guest speakers, fundraisers, and competitive events for our members to take part in. Our goal has always been to involve as many students from our school as pos-sible while helping them obtain lead-ership, communication, and network-ing skills. We believe that all students should be able to have acces sto what FBLA has to offer. Pequannock FBLA always focuses their activities around these basic stratagies. One of the most anticipated activity present in the club is the annual competitive events. Pe-quannock members work extremely hard to obtain recognition at the local, regional, state, and national levels.

Additionally, most members participated in Pequannock FBLA’s variety of community service projects, such as our annual Integrational Prom and March of Dimes Volleyball Tournament. Our chapter has many business professionals and local entrepreneurs that continually take part in various events we hold and support our organization. Many participate in our Banner Sponsorship Program that we have hosted for years and others come to speak to our members; teaching them very valuable lessons that they will use forever.

Page 3 | Introduction

The graph below shows the membership breakdown by grade for our chapter’s 2017-2018 school year.

Pequannock Township High School, or PTHS, is a public high school located in the sleepy suburbs of Pompton Plains, New Jersey. Although the school’s enrollment is small, about 700 students, PTHS FBLA thrives with 184 members, not only serving as the largest organization in our school, but also one of the largest FBLA chapters in New Jersey.

PTHS FBLA has the privilege of being situated in a community that prides itself on friendliness, virtue, and dedication. Our chapter is committed to bettering both our community and school by exercising service, education, and progress. Our school is ranked with the top 50 in New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly Magazine, and top 250 in the nation by Newsweek Magazine. With a strong devotion to academics and extracurriculars, PTHS is constantly progressing, implementing new programs that further the education and success of its students. Overall, our school creates an engaging climate, and PTHS FBLA is proud to represent the Pequannock Golden Panthers.

Throughout the years, Pequannock FBLA has changed tremendously for the better. Being a small town and a small school, it is difficult to generate a large sum of members to join FBLA or any organization. In the earlier years, we were a very small organization with a few members. Mr. Robert Mitchell was the first FBLA advisor in Pequan-nock, leading FBLA for about 30 years. He started what would turn into a Pe-quannock legacy. When he left, Ms. Kim Huntington took over. She also played a big part in building up our organization as well.

With the retirement of Ms. Huntington, Mr. Richard Hayzler took over for about five years. Previously a business teacher at the high school Mr. Richard Hayzler kept the legacy alive for a substantial period, but his time ended when he moved on to become the principal at the Pequannock Valley Middle School. As he left, he passed the legacy on to Mr. Keith Brady, who also led FBLA for a couple of years during a significant tip-ping point on our path to success. For the last seven years our current advisor, Mr. Elliott Honig, also the 2016 New

Jersey Outstanding Advisor, has been working to help us achieve everything we have earned thus far. Up until about six years ago, the maximum number of students that PTHS FBLA would send to the SLC was three. Since then we have been sending anywhere between 40-70 students to SLC, and even 10-25 students to NLC. What used to be a tiny organization in our school, has become the largest organization here at PTHS. We take great pride in our accomplish-ments, and cannot wait to continue building on our local chapter of FBLA.

Chapter Organization

School and Community

Introduction | Page 4

2017 - 2018 Program of Work

Page 5 | Activities to Benefit Chapter & Members

Goal #1: Endorse FBLA-run events throughout the year to maintain our chapter - Monthly General Membership Meetings - Fall & Spring Volleyball Tournament - Spikeball Tournament - Teacher Lip Sync Battle - Late Night at Pequannock

Goal #2: Promote community service projects that benefit local groups - Hurricane Relief Projects - Elementary School Makerspace - Intergenerational Prom - Organize a Food Drive - Partner with Read Out and Read - Annual Fall Clean Up - JA High School Heroes - Participate in Miles of Dimes, the 2017 State Community Service Project

Goal #3: Establish FBLA as a successful and dominant group within PTHS and the community as a whole - Increase our Chapter’s Awareness of Competitive FBLA Events - Facilitate the Sale of Spirit Week T-Shirts - Establish Committees within FBLA - Connect with School Administration - Sustain Involvement Throughout the Progression of the School Year - Build Public Recognition, Highlighting our Chapter’s Achievement

Goal #4: Establish our chapter as a dominant force in the statewide FBLA community - Increase number of points for Passport to Progress - Earn the Gold Seal Award - Earn the Gold Key Award - Earn the Outstanding Chapter Award - Local Chapter Annual Report - Increase Business Achievment Awards Recognition - Encourage Members to Apply for State and National Committees, and Run for State Office - Partner with Krispy Kreme to sell donuts wholesale - Attend State Fall Leadership Conference

Goal #5: Introduce business to students within the school community - FBLA Business Internship Program - Weekly Coffee Sale,”The Daily Grind” - Junior Achievment Titan Competition - Improve the Sponsorship Banner Program - Vice President of Business Relations Position - Invite Guest Speakers with Business and Leadership Experience - Report to the monthly Pequannock Chamber of Commerce meetings

Recruitment ActivitiesThroughout the school year, Pequannock FBLA conducts numerous activities in order to recruit and retain members. The following are descriptions of the actions we employ.

To ensure that all Pequannock students have the opportunity to know more about FBLA, our executive board runs a booth at the annual club fair. Every Sep-tember, the leaders from each school organization gather in the gymnasium to generate interest for membership in-volvement, and Pequannock FBLA is al-ways proud to display our past trophies and photos for all prospective members to see.

Many current members would say that FBLA has been the highlight of their high school experience. That is why Pe-quannock FBLA is extremely involved in “Four Years and Beyond”, which is an open house at the high school for eighth graders to examine the opportu-nities that lay ahead in their high school careers. Executive board members dis-play our achievements, converse with parents and students, and raffle off an FBLA Tshirt to instill our passion for the organization into the next generation

With Chris Lorenz as our webmaster, Pequannock FBLA has revamped our corner of the web. We incorporated easy-to-access forms, a “Meet the Ex-ecutive Board” page, and a constantly updated stream of announcements so that all FBLA members can keep up-to-date with all the exciting events being planned.

Booth at Club Fairs

Four Years & Beyond

Website Updates

Pequannock FBLA offers scholarships to graduating seniors, which is based on the point system. Members achieve these points by participating in monthly meetings, community service projects, dressing in business attire, serving on committees, or attending competitions. The point system is a crucial incentive for members to stay actively involved within this organization.

Scholarship Points

Pequannock FBLA’s Membership Com-mittee is tasked with creating ways to approach prospective students to re-cruit new participants. The comimittee met on a bi-weekly basis. Serving on this committee are two people from each grade level, to ensure that there is enough representation. With the help of Paul Acquaviva, Holly Padko, Juliet O’Hare, Emma Ference, Vivian Ren, Erica Aikey, Alexis Pardo, Brett Thompson, and membership chairperson Alyssa Romano, the committee successfully accomplishes their goals of recruiting many new members.

Membership Committee

Pequannock FBLA officers held a competition within themselves to see who can recruit the most members, with an incentive of winning a free class t-shirt. This competition served as a motivation for our officers to re-cruit as many members as they could.

New Member Recruitment CompetitionEvery month at our local chapter’s meet-

ing, the executive board members pick and announce a Member of the Month. This award goes to an active member who constantly participates in the ma-jority of our events and has made significant contributions to our chapter or school.

Member of the Month

This year, we expanded our social me-dia outreach by incorporating the three most popular platforms: Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Historian Alexis Pardo and Publicity Chair Meghan Stringer work together to provide our members with news, updates, and an-nouncements straight to their phones. With over 1,000 collective followers and a constantly growing community, Pe-quannock FBLA ensures that all mem-bers are connected and updated re-garding chapter affairs.

Use of Social Media

Welcome MeetingHeld in September, our first meeting is our chance to promote Pequannock FBLA to both our new and returning members. At this meeting, officers discuss all of the opportunities FBLA offers its members, such as competi-tive events, community service, and skill-building activities.

At the beginning of the school year, FBLA Executive Board members gave presentations to the Freshmen business classes to generate interest in our mem-bership. The unique benefit of having members speak directly to freshmen is that students not only gain insight from sophomore members who were in their shoes only a year prior, but also the knowledge and experience from senior members who can provide insight as to how being an FBLA member shapes one’s high school experience.

Freshmen Presentations

Activities to Benefit Chapter & Members | Page 6

Pequannock FBLA Members are classified into two catego-ries: General Members and Executive Board Members. To obtain a position on the executive board, a member must submit a letter of intent in June, followed by a resume and an interview with our advisor and the outgoing president. Members are then chosen by based on a holistic admissions process. The application process is kept professional to pre-pare students for the interviews they will encounter for col-leges and jobs after high school. This year, we are proud to have our largest executive board to date, with twelve mem-bers and three new roles.

In our most successful National Leadership Conference to date, 26 members were proud to represent Pequannock FBLA in Anaheim, California. Each member competed in an event, and we were lucky to take home seven national awards. Sophomore Kamila Magiera placed second in FBLA Principles and Procedures. Juniors Michael Stringer and Emma Ference made it through two rounds of Help Desk, placing second and tenth respectively. The Pequannock FBLA Parliamentary Procedures team, composed of Sa-rah Acquaviva, Alyssa Kajian, Matthew Apryasz, and Juliet O’Hare also placed, taking home an eighth place trophy. In addition, all Pequannock FBLA members attended various leadership workshops and meetings that provided them with the tools needed to become a better leader. Pequan-nock FBLA’s Executive Board also attended the State Fall Leadership Conference, which was held in October. Nine members were able to attend the event and partake in sev-eral riveting lectures and leadership seminars.

Local Officer Application and Appointment Leadership Conferences

Leadership Development

Because our Monthly General Membership meetings are generally well-attended with an average attendance of over 60 members each, we strive to give each member an opportunity to expand their leadership skills. To do this, we incorporate leadership-based games and activities into each meeting. To give these games a competitive edge, the win-ning group receives a certain number of “points” to be cal-culated into their individual point accounts and sometime receive other perks, such as a free cup of coffee from the FBLA coffee shop. Students are always highly engaged in the activities, and the friendly competition between groups only makes exploring leadership more fun!

General Membership Meeting Leadership SkillsOne of the leadership opportunities given to executive board members is the ability to chair a committee. Commit-tees are formed to involve general members in specific pro-jects and initiatives. These groups also give general mem-bers the opportunity to take the lead on a specific project and become more involved in our chapter’s work. Execu-tive board members plan the meetings of their respective committees on their own, and are expected to maintain an means of communications with their committee members. Currently, our largest committees include the Community Service Committee, Publicity Committee, Website Commit-tee, and our new Entrepreneurship Committee.

Committee Opportunities

Leadership WorkshopsPequannock FBLA holds monthly “Leadership Workshops” during lunch to help sharpen our members’ leadership skills. During these workshops, members have the opportunity to learn public speaking skills, new collaborative methods, or be provided with experience and insight from one of our nu-merous guest speakers. These workshops have proved to be a success and are reflective of the core values of FBLA.

Page 7 | Activities to Benefit Chapter & Members

Career ExplorationFor the second year in a row, Pequannock FBLA is lucky enough to have two members competing in the Junior Achievement Titan Virtual Business Competition. Alexandra Robak and Morgan Bencsko participated in the challenge over a one-month period and advanced to the second round. In addition, they had the opportunity to tour the Horizons Corporate office, listen to guest speakers, and shadow an em-ployee as they went about their workday. This provided the competitors with insight on a career at Horizons, and the two students returned with a unique perspective on the corpo-rate world.

Junior Achievement Titan - Job ShadowAt Pequannock FBLA’s monthly general membership meetings, career and leadership games are implemented to help our members gain new skills pivotal to future suc-cess. The games are often geared towards careers in busi-ness, allowing members to gain some insight into possi-ble fields they may want to seek employment in. Through team building activities, our members are able to expand upon their interpersonal skills and foster a love for leader-ship and business.

Career Building Skills

Activities to Benefit Chapter & Members | Page 8

Pequannock FBLA has always maintained a mutually benefi-cial relationship with Pequannock local businesses, but this year we decided to improve these partnerships by introduc-ing an Internship/Job Shadow Initiative. Vice President of Business Relations Brian Santini organized this program in September, and in five short months, the program now en-compasses twenty different local businesses. Members have the opportunity to run a social media campaign for a local music shop or learn the ropes of accounting under a personal finance consultant. This program affords members with the opportunity for practical, hands-on experience that tran-scends the traditional business classroom.

Local Internship & Job Shadow

Because of our extensive and involved Professional Division, Pequannock FBLA has the opportunity to invite multiple guest speakers throughout the year. This year, we were lucky to have Mr. Tim Pernetti, President of IMG College and for-mer CBO of Major League Soccer, speak to our members in November about his experience in the field of Sports Man-agement. In addition, we had former Director of Finances of Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Michael Crocker, deliver a keynote speech at our Regional Competitive Events to give insight on a career in the Healthcare Management field. Both of these accomplished individuals provided valuable advice and a glimpse into the business field.

Guest Speakers

As Pequannock FBLA inches closer to its 10th year, we estab-lished an Alumni Association composed of executive board members from previous years. This association serves to as-sist current members by providing them with advice, resourc-es, and a familiar face when a member embarks on a college campus visit. We recently held an “Alumni Night” during our January General Membership meeting, and we were lucky to have twenty alumni return to speak about their FBLA expe-riences and share their wisdom to Pequannock FBLA’s next generation.

Alumni Association

Because Pequannock FBLA has such a strong footing in the Parliamentary Procedures category, we decided to imple-ment aspects of Parliamentary Procedures into our general membership meetings. Ran by chapter president and Parli Chairwoman Juliet O’Hare, our members have learned the importance of voting and the definition of a motion. These small steps can guide members into the concepts of Parlia-mentary Procedures, which are helpful in a wide range of ca-reers.

Parliamentary Procedures Training

Last spring, our chapter was invited to participate in our town’s elementary school “TREP$ Young Entrepreneur Pro-gram”. Executive Board members traveled to the elementary school to listen to the children’s sales pitches on items rang-ing from glow-in-the-dark toothpaste to a handheld micro-wave. The members then gave feedback and answered ques-tions about studying business at PTHS.

TREP$ Young Entrepreneur Program

Because of our close partnerships with local small businesses, The Executive Board makes it a priority to send representatives to the monthly Pequannock Chamber of Commerce meetings. During these meetings, members deliver presentations on the current happenings in our chapter and network with business owners to expand programs such as the new Job Shadow/Internship program. By having a persistent presence at these meetings, Pequannock FBLA is become more known and respected in the Pequannock business community, which opens new doors for us and expands opportunities for our members.

Executive Board members recently had the opportunity to tour GolfTec as part of our initiative to expand our career preparation endeavors. GolfTec is a local busi-ness that provides virtual-reality golfing games. Members had the opportunity to speak with executives, gain insight on the day-to-day operations of the company, and even had the chance to try the golfing game! Overall, our members enjoyed the opportunity to meet with the business proffesionals and practice their net-working skills.

Connection with the Chamber of Commerce

Local Business Tours

Business Partnerships

Throughout the years, Pequannock FBLA has continued its sponsorship program, providing endorsements and marketing to businesses in local areas through ban-ners. These banners are placed on Pequannock High School’s athletic field, which is a prime location during sports seasons. With three packages offered, bronze, silver, and gold, each provide a different level of advertisements and benefits. This year, six businesses reached two-year status and received discounts on their renewals. Many other businesses also bought new packages or upgraded, valuing the work that FBLA provides while promoting their own businesses.

Local Business Sponsorship Program

Executive Board - Business IntegrationThis year, the Executive Board established a new position en-titled “Vice President of Business Relations” to better organ-ize and maintain our correspondence and partnerships with local businesses. This year’s Vice President of Business Rela-tions is Brian Santini, and he is responsible for the Sponsor-ship Banner Program, Professional Division, and Job Shadow/Internship Program. Through this position, we hope to better our relationships with Pequannock small businesses and gain valuable Professional Members who will expand Pequannock FBLA’s professional network even more.

FBLA Profesional Division MembersPequannock FBLA takes pride in working hand in hand with local business people and those who offer help within our local FBLA chapter. With a growing number of Professional Division members, the success of entrepreneurs, owners of shops, and managers inspire our members to get involved within these career oriented fields. Pequannock FBLA works hand in hand with these leaders in public events, such as the street fair and fundraisers.

Page 9 | Activities to Benefit Chapter & Members

The 2017 National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, Cali-fornia was our most attended NLC to date. Because of this, we needed to fundraise to offset costs for all members attend-ing. We worked in tandem with the Pequannock Chamber of Commerce to obtain a booth at the annual Pequannock Street Fair. We decorated the booth with awards and blue and gold elements, raffled off gift baskets, and informed fairgo-ers about the work done in the PTHS FBLA Chapter. The gift baskets contained donated gifts from a professional member, and the executive board worked to make the baskets attrac-tive and presentable. We also ran a dunk tank, where attendees could try to dunk our advisor for $1/throw. Both ventures were extremely lucra-tive, raised sufficient funds to assist in offsetting our confer-ence costs, and spread the word about PTHS FBLA.

Chapter FundraisingPequannock FBLA dedicates much of its time to bettering our school community and climate. FBLA’s service events go to great lengths in getting students involved with community service as well as equipping students with opportunities to experience the business world.

Pequannock Street Fair

Each year Pequannock Township High School holds a spirit week followed by a pep rally in order to boost school pride among the student body. FBLA is a proud sponsor of this event and shows their continual school spirit by providing spirit week t-shirts to all staff and students. Underclassmen sport our school colors of white, blue, and gold, while Sen-iors have the ability to choose their class color. The Class of 2018 decided on red,white, and blue tie dye, and it was ex-citing to see the entire student body come together to sup-port FBLA while showing their Panther Pride.

Pequannock FBLA is proud to be running our coffee shop for its third consecutive year. “The Daily Grind” serves coffee, tea, and hot chocolate in the morning before class, out of our newly renovated space in a central location. This year, we ex-panded our offerings to cold brew coffee and iced tea, ensur-ing that our sales remain steady year-round.

Spirit Week Shirt Sales FBLA Daily Grind

By far, our most lucrative fundraiser has been our continued efforts with the Sponsorship Banner Program. Through this program, local businesses have the opportunity to purchase banners that are displayed by the school’s athletic fields. Fa-cilitated by FBLA, this program has been extremely success-ful in the past in raising sufficient funds for FBLA’s various endeavors and in strengthening our relationships with local businesses.One of the main selling points of this program is the banner’s proximity to Newark Pompton Turnpike. This is a main road in town, and the Gold Package banners are facing outward to-ward the main road. Also, Pequannock Township High School is located across the street from Chilton Memorial Medical Center, which is frequented by many and is the busiest point in our town.

Sponsorship Banner Program

Activities to Benefit Chapter & Members | Page 10

In order to raise sufficient funds for the State and National Leadership conferences, Pequannock FBLA is continuing its monthly sale of Krispy Kreme donuts. Because there is not a Krispy Kreme in our area, students and teachers love having the opportunity to purchase these treats by the dozen. This year, to maximize profits and expand our inter-school out-reach, we plan on introducing the Krispy Kreme sale into our local middle school and three elementary schools by imple-menting a digital pre-order system.

Krispy Kreme

Pequannock FBLA ran a weeklong raffle fundraiser. The win-ner of the raffle would be delivered a local deli sandwich, paid for by Pequannock FBLA, every day for a week long. This fund-raiser proved to be extremely successful and raised sufficient funds.

Local Business Fundraiser

In order to keep all members updated, we are continuing our use of our FBLA Billboard. This billboard is located in the central hallway of the school, and hundreds of students pass by it every day. Vice President of Publicity, Meghan Stringer, maintains the billboard and frequently updates it with the most current dates, announcements, and pictures. This year, to make our billboard more visually appealing, we modeled it after the popular sitcom Friends, which also emphasizes the unique camaraderie only found in FBLA.

In addition to expanding our social media outreach, we have also implemented new strategies to make our outreach as effective as possible. For example, we constantly utilize the “stories” feature on both Instagram and Snapchat to make announcements and ensure that our messages are being re-ceived. We also use the “poll” feature on twitter to better un-derstand the needs of our general members, whether it be deciding the next seasonal coffee flavor or the color of this year’s t-shirts. By incorporating these strategies, we can en-sure that our followers are constantly engaged and have a voice within Pequannock FBLA.

Participation in Public Relations and ActivitiesBulletin Board

Social Media

Because Pequannock FBLA prides itself on its close relationships with business-es, our chapter makes a concentrated effort to attend the monthly Pequan-nock Chamber of Commerce meetings. By doing this, we have established a constant presence within our commu-nity’s business sector, and our frequent presentations to the Chamber has in-creased our Professional Development membership and strengthened our partnership with local businesses.

Pequannock FBLA is recognized very frequently for its contributions to the community and accomplishments.This includes Intergenerational Prom, a very popular community service project among the area. Due to its at-tention, newspapers and news sites such as the Suburban Trends, NJ.com, and The Daily Record, acknowledged our local chapter. Pequannock FBLA also received recognition for its ac-complishments at the state and na-tional level, in addition to the Sponsor Pequannock Program.

Our local chapter continuously recog-nizes the general members in appre-ciation for their participation and ef-fort for the organization by selecting a Member of the Month. Each month, the officers and advisor choose a member who actively attends month-ly meetings, upholds the goals of FBLA, and participates in our organi-zation’s events. The selected students are recognized at our monthly meet-ings and given a certificate.

Chamber of Commerce

Media and Statewide Recognition

Member of the Month

In addition to being on the Executive Board, Vice President of Business Relations Brian Santini also delivers the morning announcements over the loudspeaker before first period. Pe-quannock FBLA frequently submits announcements to pro-mote events and share information, and having Brian as the voice of our chapter makes these announcements more ef-fective by giving them a personal touch.

Daily Announcements

One of our main goals this year was to increase our recogni-tion through utilizing outside mediums such as newspapers and the local news. Just this summer, members of the nation-ally placing Parliamentary Procedures team were featured on the front page of our county’s weekly circular, and president Juliet O’Hare was interviewed about the future of Pequan-nock FBLA. Also, we were lucky enough to have a camera crew from News 12 New Jersey attend our annual Intergen-erational Prom, and our advisor Mr. Honig was interviewed about the project. We also make an effort to submit articles to the NJFBLA publication Spotlight, and have had multiple articles published for the entire state to see.

Newspaper Articles

Page 11 | Activities to Benefit Chapter & Members

Because of Pequannock FBLA’s enthu-siasm and involvement at conferenc-es, members Claire Dudgeon and Pat Maloney created videos from these ex-periences. Reaching over a total of 1000 views, it echoes the events and princi-ples that FBLA stands for. Due to the popularity and quality of Pat Maloney’s “Portraits of Success” video, Webmas-ter Sid Patel incorporated it into the NJ FBLA website as the first thing one sees when they enter the site.

Conference Videos

FBLA State and National Projects

Activities to Benefit Other Individuals & Organizations | Page 12

Food Drive Miles of Dimes CampaignThis January, Pequannock FBLA organized a food drive dur-ing our monthly general membership meeting. As an initia-tive, if members brought multiple cans of food, they would receive a free slice of pizza. Our local chapter collected 50 cans of food, ranging from vegetables to soup. This shows our member’s continuous support and commitment to events designed to help the local community.

Pequannock FBLA hosted their annual Volleyball Tourna-ment at Pequannock Township High school on Thursday No-vember 16th at 6:00 pm. Many students came out to support the organization and donate to March of Dimes. A portion of the proceeds were donated to the March of Dimes. March of Dimes helps fund research to try and end premature birth. Additionally, the executive board decided this year to host a snack stand at the tournament where they sold water, gato-rade, and granola bars. One hundred percent of the pro-ceeds from the snackstand went solely to March of Dimes. The teams consisted of all grades, genders, and not only students but teachers as well. There were ten teams who at-tended and came ready to win. At the end it came down to Set City and Jelly fam with Set City pulling out the win. The FBLA executive board worked really hard to pull this event off, and they truly hoped everyone enjoyed it. Our chapter raised over $300, a sum that reflects the generosity of FBLA members and the high school body. FBLA is looking forward to the next tournament in the Spring and hopes to see more students there!

On November 17, our chapter participated in the 2017 State Community Service Project, the Miles of Dimes Campaign, organized by NJ FBLA Community Service Vice President Matthew Murino. Coincidentally, the tournament was held on World Prematurity Awareness Day, which is a day of support towards premature babies and their families. As presented and instructed by the Community Service Vice President, the Pequannock FBLA Executive Board set up duct tape on the ground, with the purpose of those passing by to put loose change on it, which would then be donated to the March of Dimes. The campaign took place during lunch, a time that students would be walking around, whether it was to their lockers, teacher’s office, or to the cafeteria. Due to the unexpected success, the Pequannock FBLA executive board decided that that would continue the campaign at the next general meeting, which took place that following Wednes-day. An additional $6.31 was raised, collecting a grand total of $19.76.

March of Dimes Volleyball Tournament

When the world learned of the devastation caused by Hur-ricane Harvey in Texas, Pequannock FBLA members were in-stantly reminded of the hardships we faced during Hurricane Sandy. We were also reminded of our friends in Texas who we had met at the National Leadership Conference in Anaheim. After checking on their well-being, we learned that their en-tire school was flooded due to the heavy rainfall, and all of their materials were damaged. Our chapter immediately took it upon ourselves to help in any way we could. We collected donations from members and sold pizza at one of our meet-ings, later compiling the profits and using them to support our friends in Texas by buying school supplies off of their Am-azon wishlist. We knew that our situation could have turned out to be very similar to theirs, so our chapter wanted to help in any way possible.

Hurricane Harvey Relief

For the second year in a row, Pequannock FBLA is honored to have two members competing in the Junior Achievement Ti-tan Virtual Business Competition. Alexandra Robak and Mor-gan Bencsko participated in the challenge over a one-month period and advanced to the second round. In addition, they had the opportunity to tour the Horizons Corporate office, lis-ten to guest speakers, and shadow an employee as they went about their workday. This provided the competitors with in-sight on a career at Horizons, and the two students returned with a unique perspective on the corporate world.

Junior Achievement Titan

As part of our chapter’s long-term partnership with Junior Achievement, this year we participated in Junior Achieve-ment’s High School Heroes program. 40 members traveled to our local elementary school to teach students about finan-cial literacy and the importance of business. Members split up into teams of 4 and instructed classes ranging from Kin-dergarten to fifth grade. At the end of the day, each student received a certificate to commemorate their day of business education, and our members learned the importance of busi-ness education and the value of financial literacy.

Junior Achievement High School Heroes

Business Achievement Awards and Community Service Awards have gained much popularity within our chapter in the past year. Not only has local chapter member Kamila Magiera achieved the highest level, but twenty five members within the 2017-2018 year has echoed their interest for the program.

Business Achievement Awards

Other Community Service ProjectsPequannock FBLA puts emphasis on giving back to the community. The Executive Board and Community Service Committee, with chairwoman Erin Vaccaro, work together to get more involved within the community to plan and organize events that are 100% focused on giving back. PTHS FBLA also promotes events that are organized within other clubs in our school, encourag-ing all members to be as active as possible. This includes aiding with water distributions at marathons, placing pinwheels in front of our school for drunk driving awareness, and raising funds for the March of Dimes. Paying it forward is a great way for general members to get involved, and because it is such as great cause, our chapter endorses it tremendously.

Page 13 | Activities to Benefit Other Individuals & Organizations

Erin Vaccaro, Pequannock’s Community Service Vice Presi-dent, regularly organizes community service projects with local, state, and national interests. Erin understands the im-pact Pequannock FBLA can make due to our active members, so she ensures that her projects are meaningful and worth-while. At the first general membership meeting, the Com-munity Service VP formed a community service committee that would research, select an organization to work with, and organize a variety of events that would echo FBLA’s dedica-tion to service.This group also ensures that the chapter ac-complishes all project goals and assists the executive board in any way possible.

Community Service Committee

Every year during Teacher Appreciation Week, the Community Service Committee facilitates the sale of Teacher Care Packages to all PTHS Students. These packages contain teacher supplies, candy, and heart-felt messages from students to teachers expressing their gratitude and impact. Every year, the teachers responses are astounding. Teachers appreciate the kind words their students wrote about them, and put the essential school supplies right to use. The pack-ages were just as beneficial to the students as well. Peers were able to come together and realize the im-portant role their teachers play in their school career.

Teacher Care PackagesIn order to raise funds for our Community Service Project, the Executive Board decided we wanted to host an event that would involve the en-tire school. We immediately thought of the popular television show “Ce-lebrity Lip Sync Battle” and figured we could mirror the concept in our school with teachers. To do this, we gathered a list of volunteer teach-ers, put each name on a box, and collected donations in these boxes over a two-week period. The teachers who raised the most money had to “Lip-Sync” against each other in front of the entire school. Teachers were very enthusiastic about participating, and the entire student body burst into laughter when our gym teacher emerged from backstage in a tuxedo to perform a rendition of Bruno Mars with multiple props. We raised over $200 for our cause, and introduced a unique event that fos-tered school spirit in the process.

Teacher Lip Sync Battle

Vice President of Community Service Erin Vaccaro chose the nonprofit organization Reach Out and Read to be the center of our chapter’s community service efforts this year. This or-ganization advocates for childhood literacy across the na-tion, sponsoring over 5,800 programs, and distributing over 1.6 million books annually. Reach Out and Read provides the literary resources necessary for a successful elementary education. Their programs prove to foster the language-rich interactions between parents and their young children that stimulate early brain development. After working with the local library, elementary schools, and community members Pequannock FBLA was able to not only raise frunds to help buy books, but also raise awareness of the importance of childhood literacy.

Reach Out and Read

By far, our largest and most successful community service ini-tiative is our annual Intergenerational Prom. IGP encapsulates everything that FBLA stands for: we collaborate with local businesses to provide food and entertainment. We establish an IGP committee to ensure that the event is student-run, and we design the night around providing the best possible ex-perience for our community’s senior citizens in the name of service.

Intergenerational Prom

Participation in FBLA Conferences

Other Chapter & Individual RecognitionThis past year, Pequannock FBLA was recognized as an Out-standing Local Chapter at both the State Leadership Confer-ence and National Leadership Conference. Our chapter worked hard to organize numerous different initiatives, such as a com-munity service project, and recognize important events, such as National Enterprise Day. We are incredibly proud to receive this recognition.

Outstanding Local Chapter

Conferences & Recognition | Page 14

In March of 2017, 68 of our local chapter’s members attended NJ FBLA’s State Leadership Conference in Harrah’s Resort & Casino in Atlantic City, competing against the best of the state. With a very successful conference, Pequannock FBLA received five individual recognition awards, twelve individual/team awards, and four chapter recognition awards, including Local Outstanding Chapter. Local chapter Vice President Juliet O’Hare was also a candidate for Northern Region Vice President, and campaigned for points of reform within the Northern Region and NJFBLA.

State Leadership Conference

Due to our success at the State Leadership Conference, 26 stu-dents travelled to Anaheim, California to represent our chap-ter. Pequannock FBLA received multiple chapter & individual recognition awards, in addition to competitive event awards for seven national winners. Kamila Magiera, alongside former State President Scott Mueller, was one of two people in New Jersey to earn the America BAA Award, and was recognized by Eastern Region Vice President Sophia Danziger during the regional rally.

National Leadership Conference

This year, Pequannock FBLA had a record breaking number of Regional Competitive Event participants: 123. During the re-gional competitive events, not only did members apply their knowledge to their test, but also participated in a leadership summit; members had the opportunity to listen in on guest speaker Mike Crocker and network with seniors about high school and their experiences within FBLA. With dedication, commitment, and motivation, 43 students placed in their respective events. This March, 77 members will be travelling to Atlantic City to compete.

Regional Competitive Events

In October, our local officers attended SFLC, and had the opportunity to network and discuss FBLA affairs. Chapter Pres-ident Juliet O’Hare participated in the Presidents’ Roundta-ble, examining plans introduced by the state executive board while representing Pequannock FBLA. Co-Vice President Kami-la Magiera also spoke about her experience completing the America BAA Award due to the state board’s new campaign to increase BAA awareness. Throughout the conference, our members tuned into leadership skill building workshops and keynote speeches to further their expertise.

State Fall Leadership Conference

Pequannock FBLA was honored at the National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, California after successfully complet-ing the Chapter Challenge. This recognition consists of Super Sweeps, Non-Stop November, and Action Awareness, which correspond with individual activities that advance local chap-ters. Our members enjoyed participating in the multitude of activities, and were excited to earn the award in honor of eve-rything accomplished.

Chapter Challenge Award

The executive board for the following year is selected every June, and to commemorate the new leaders of Pequannock FBLA, an installation ceremony is conducted. Both incoming and outgoing local officers attend, and a candle ceremony is coordinated to mimic the principles of FBLA. Departing offic-ers are recognized for their contributions, while the new ex-ecutive board is sworn into their roles for the year ahead.

Installation Ceremony

We as a chapter are proud to have to have received accolades on a personal level through he thank you letters and cards we have received. What makes us such a strong chapter is the im-pact we have on others, and it is always a pleasure to see our hard work come to fruition through the thanks we receive.

Thank You Letters & Acknowledgements

To celebrate FBLA-PBL’s 75th anniversary, Pequannock FBLA participated in the Diamond Chapter program and received the Diamond chapter award in Anaheim. To achieve this, members Juliet O’Hare and Matthew Apryasz worked to complete the numerous competencies, such as registering 75 members or logging 75 total community service hours. Pequannock FBLA was one of the only chapters in New Jer-sey to receive the award and we are proud to have participat-ed in a project commemorating the organization’s biggest milestones.

Diamond Chapter Recognition

Business Achievement AwardsOver the past year Pequannock FBLA has worked to integrate the FBLA National Program known as the Business Achievment Awards. This award system helped students demonstrate lead-ership skills, expand their business knowledge, contribute to their local communities, and earn recognition by immersing themselves in their school, community, and FBLA programs. There are currently 20 students enrolled in the program.

Competitive Events & Activities2017 State Leadership Conference

2017 National Leadership Conference

2017 Regional Competitive Events

Page 15 | Conferences & Recognition

Chapter Awards• Gold Seal Award of Merit• Outstanding Local Chapter - 1st Place in the State• Largest Local Chapter Northern Region - 2nd Place• Chapter Website Award of Merit Award

FBLA Individual Recognition Awards• Matt Apryasz - Gold Officer Award• Sarah Acquaviva - Gold Member Award• Mr. Elliott Honig - Outstanding Local Adviser Award• Ms. Angela Kohle - Volunteer of the Year Award• Casey Santini - FBLA Who’s Who Award

Individual/Team Awards• Parliamentary Procedures - 1st Place: Matt Apryasz,

Sarah Acquaviva, Alyssa Kajian, Juliet O’Hare• FBLA Principles and Procedures - 1st Place: Kamila

Magiera• FBLA Principles and Procedures - 2nd Place: Erin Vaccaro • Future Business Leader - 4th Place: Casey Santini• Help Desk - 3rd Place: Michael Stringer• Help Desk - 4th Place: Emma Ference• Introduction to Business Procedures - 3rd Place: Abby Smith• Introduction to Parliamentary Procedures -

4th Place: Camryn Dondero• Job Interview - 2nd Place: Claire Dudgeon• Job Interview - 3rd Place: Julia Amore• Social Media Campaign - 3rd Place: Morgan Bencsko,

Brianna Dombrowski• Sales Presentation - 3rd Place: Joseph Benavente

Chapter Awards• National Outstanding Chapter• Gold Seal Chapter Award of Merit• Chapter Challenge Award• Diamond Chapter Award

FBLA Individual Recognition Awards• Kamila Magiera - America Award

Individual/Team Awards• Advertising: Olivia Sedran, Vanessa Zelhof• Agribusiness: Michael Stringer• Battle of the Chapters: Juliet O’Hare, Kamila Magiera, Brian

Santini• Business Calculations: Brian Goll• Business Law: John White• Computer Applications: Jack Bauer, Samantha Klein• Computer Problem Solving: Nick Hoff• Cybersecurity: Dylan Irwin• Future Business Leader: Alexandra Robak• Introduction to Business Communication: Katie

Schaffner, Isabella Ciresi• Introduction to Business Procedures: Olivia Iorio, Holly Padko• Introduction to FBLA: Charlotte O’Hare, Lauren Buffa, Paul

Acquaviva, Samantha Mahoney• Introduction to Financial Math: Jordan Fuchs, Connor Corso• Introduction to Parliamentary Procedures: Urmi Bhatt, Meg-

an Miller, Jasmine Gregg, Alexandria Card• Job Interview: Katie Reda, Emma Ference• Journalism: Cassandra Meyer• Organizational Leadership: Erin Dericks• Help Desk: Chris Lorenz, Alexis Pardo, Jack Martinus, Maria

McLaughlin• Parliamentary Procedure: Erica Aikey, Juliet O’Hare, Kamila

Magiera, Brian Santini• Sports & Entertainment Management: Brett Thompson,

Dave Hernandez• Spreadsheet Applications: Brian Bulger, Benjamin Afflitto• Word Processing: Julia Decumber, Joseph D’ Andrea, Evan

Joyce

Individual/Team Awards• Help Desk - 2nd Place: Michael Stringer• Help Desk - 10th Place: Emma Ference • FBLA Principles and Procedures -

2nd Place: Kamila Magiera • Parliamentary Procedures -

8th Place: Matt Apryasz, Sarah Acquaviva, Juliet O’Hare, Alyssa Kajian

Outgoing officers Casey Santini, Tori Hannon, and Sarah Acqua-viva were recognized for their dedication, service, and contri-butions to FBLA by receiving scholarships from the Chamber of Commerce. Due to our close relationship with the Chamber of Commerce, the organization understands the importance and hard work put into FBLA, and further recognizes those who had made significant impacts on the local, state, and national level.

Chamber of Commerce Senior Schloarships America BAA AwardSophomore Kamila Magiera was one of only two in the state of New Jersey to have earned all levels of FBLA’s Business Achievement Awards: Future, Business, Leader, and America. The America Award, the highest and most difficult to complete, was achieved by Kamila as one of two people in New Jersey, Kamila was recognized at the National Leadership Conference by Eastern Region Vice President Sophia Danziger, and contin-ues to promote this award in New Jersey.

Other Chapter & Individual Recognition