Advocacy and Career and Technical Education month!
            Hello Florida DECA and welcome to the most exciting time of the year! It’s officially 2017, which means new year, new goals, and another February to celebrate Career and Technical Education Month! Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month is a time to honor and recognize CTE programs such as DECA that play an integral role in the growth of us as leaders, individuals, and future business professionals. It is the time for you to get out into your school and community and begin ADVOCATING for DECA and other CTE’s. So what is Advocacy? Advocacy is the process of encouraging and informing others of a specific passion, belief, or cause. Well, what are we passionate about? DECA OF COURSE! The way to advocate to people such as your local business professionals or legislatures, is to EDUCATE and COLLABORATE. You must educate your local leaders about DECA and the opportunities and skills offered to you through this renowned organization in order for them to be encouraged. Your goal is to leave them in awe once you’re finished! Next, collaborate with them! Get them involved in your chapter activities or see what they can do to help out your DECA chapter or even aim for DECA Inc. partnerships. The sky is the limit and once they’re hooked by your presentation, they are going to want to get involved. Advocating is an essential process. Not only does it help you gain new partnerships and community support, but it also aids you in the recruitment process for next years membership. So, make the most of February coming up and OWN YOUR CTE MONTH to the best of your availabilities. I hope to hear all about your CTE month’s via email, Twitter, and even Instagram. Tag us @FLDECA and we will be sure to send a Re-tweet or a like your way! Good luck with your planning and have a great day!
                        -Anya Berry FL DECA EVP
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​Get pumped Florida DECA! It's competition season! Many districts have or are about to compete and then the next road is the road to the 2017 Florida DECA Career Development Conference in Orlando Florida. CDC(states) will be here before you know it. With that said, it's time to get in competition mode and began preparing. So you may ask, so how do I prepare? Well follow the five steps below!
1.) Choose your cluster
2.) Begin studying DECA vocab
3.) Find a study budy who will motivate you!
4.) Take DECA cluster exam practice tests and identify vocabulary words in the questions and answer choices that you may not know or understand!
5.)  Practice roleplays with your parents, neighbors, or local business professionals or chapter professional members
Your Florida DECA Team 59 officers and your chapter advisors want to see you GO BIG OR GO HOME! We hope that each one of you make it on stage at CDC and end your journey on the 2017 International Career Development Conference stage in Aneheim California! If you need more information regarding your competition event, head to DECA.org and find all competitive resources under the Competition tab! Best of luck Florida DECA! We will see you all soon!

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​Overall the weekend was a major success! Starting off on the first day we enjoyed the company of every ELS attendee at the opening ceremony where each person formed their own group by finding their fellow animals in the room! What a blast! Later on, we enjoyed a Team 59 Trick or Treat movie night. Hope you all had enough sugar! On day two, we saw competition and chapter workshops that made the weekend even better. As this was going on, Team 59 collected all Helping Hands items which blew us out of the water! Thank you to everyone who donated. We closed that evening by attending Daytona Lagoon where we raced to the finish line in go karts. Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better weekend! Thank you to everyone who attended and made this weekend amazing.
                                      Love, Team 59

Hello Florida DECA! It's time to learn about how to own your
future!
The number one most important thing to do to start your year
off great, is to set SMART goals.
S-Specific
M-Measurable
A-Attainable
R-Realistic
T-Timely
These goals will allow you and your team to track your progress
and success throughout the year!
The second most important thing is to make sure you are
recruiting new members but also retaining your current
membership involvement. You can do this by hosting socials
where your members can network and form partnerships! Or host
a lunchtime tie tying contest that promotes DECA and got chapter!
The third thing to do is make sure you are using your officers,
FLDECA.org, and DECA INC. as resources. We are always here
to help and have plenty of resources to help you and your chapter
thrive!
The final way to own your chapter future, is TAKE RISKS AND
PUSH YOUR COMFORT ZONE! Implement something new and
innovative in your chapter that makes your members and chapter
unique! We want to hear about it!
So Florida DECA, are you ready to own your future? If you are,
let's begin!

One of the hardest things to do is to persuade someone to do
something. However, it is often times that the reason people don't
participate in something is because they aren't informed enough
about what they are becoming involved in. Therefore, it is
imperative that when you are trying to recruit new members, the
first step you should take is informing them! Make sure that all
aspects of DECA are addressed. Capitalize on competition, travel,
memories, and the real-world experience you gain!

Next, involve your members in as many projects as you can.
Whether you're planning an activity for DECA month or your next
social, you should get your members involved in the planning and
execution of them. When someone is given responsibility they feel
important and it makes them feel like they are valued.

Finally, one of the most important types of membership is your
professional members. Professional members can serve as
judges for competition prep, industry guest speakers, chapter
project sponsors, and professional mentors for your members.
Recruiting and involving your professional members are an
essential part of the success in your chapter.
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Whether it's student or professional involvement, all of these
individuals fuel your chapter morale and future success so their
involvement is crucial!

OTC (Officer Training Recap!) 
Hello everyone! Team 59 is back from OTC and we couldn’t be more pumped. This weekend we travelled to Plantation Florida for four days where we spent countless hours working , bonding, and planning out our year. On the first day we had to get everyone’s spiffy uniforms organized, and trust me once they were on we never wanted to take them off! After that was settled we sat down and began learning everything there was to learn about DECA on the state and even the international level. During this time, we also began learning about each others passions, hobbies, strengths, and weaknesses. Then we christened the beginning of OTC with a family dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant. The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn preparing for our Team 59 professional photo-shoot. How fun! After that, it we spent the next 8 hours working to plan the year out to a “T”. There wasn’t one thing we didn’t discuss. Of course, we had our joking around times, but this day was dedicated to work and productivity. Later on however, we spent another family dinner together and followed it up with a heated bowling tournament. I think Justin crushed all of us! Haha! By the end of the conference, I had gotten to know each of my teammates in depth and realized I could not have asked for a better group to work with. I am so excited to take on the year with Team 59 and all of you by my side. When the time came to part from my teammates at the and of the conference, I knew that we were officially Team 59 and we were officially ready to Own Our Future!