​Hey you! Yes you! Thank you. Because in some way, shape or form this past year you have impacted me. As my term comes to a close, I can’t even put into words what you, your chapter, and Florida DECA as an association has done for me. I thought I’d run down a quick list of things I’ve learned this past year that’ll I’ll carry with me!
1.       Always start a project early: There is nothing more stressful than beginning a project the night before it is due or better yet the day it’s due. Our written and video blogs were always due on the 5th of every month and it took me a few months to get into that mindset of earliness. Once I did though, it was so much better.
2.       It’s a process: In the beginning when I first started my video blogs I did take after take because I felt awkward talking to my webcam. By the end though I felt more comfortable speaking like it was a normal conversation! It takes time getting used to.
3.       Lean on others for support: I’ve always struggled with asking others for help or advice because I felt like I was bothering them. You need to though! I could not have imagined this process without texting Manni or Julian for encouragement or support. You need them.
4.       Relationships: Possibly one of my favorite parts of my term was meeting Florida DECA members and staying in touch with them. Use your leadership positions you have now to get to know who you are representing.

I am a chronic over packer. My first CDC I brought three suitcases with me. Three! Granted I probably didn’t even touch 80% of what I brought with me. I was just not a smart packer. I’ve come a long way though and I wanted to share with you a few of my top packing tips for CDC!

1. Always check the schedule! For a conference like CDC, there will be opportunities that you can wear casual clothes and professional dress. I usually pack 4 professional dress outfits   (1- Opening session, 2-Role Play, 3- testing, 4- closing) and 4 casual outfits plus Pajamas.
2. Wrinkle Release is gold. You are bound to have that one shirt, no matter how you fold it, that is going to be nice and wrinkly. I’m not one for waking up early to iron or really ironing at all. All you have to do is spray and shake. Ta Da!

3. If you wouldn’t wear it to your grandma’s house, don’t bring it. Even though you’re relieved from the pressures of the everyday school hustle you still have to be dressed appropriately.  DECA is a professional organization in and out of sessions. So save the tighter dresses, muscle shirts and miniskirts for a different time.
4.      Bag all of your liquids. Possibly the next worst thing besides forgetting a specific shirt or item is having your shampoo drench it. You can also stretch plastic wrap over the mouth of the bottle and then screw the cap on to avoid any mishaps!
For more packing help watch my February video blog dedicated to getting more in your suitcase!  
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With the beginning of the New Year, I always find my mind venturing into the limitless possibilities that are to come in the next 365 days. It’s one of my favorite times of year for refocusing my motivations and to reflect on the journey traveled. 2016 is a huge milestone year for me, and many other seniors, as we leave high school and begin to build our careers. In an effort to help you plan goals for the upcoming year, my video blog this month is a mashup of senior chapter members and officers with words of advice on things they wish they would have known throughout senior year. I also wanted to add my top 3 tips for a successful senior year!
1.Plan. Plan. Plan.  There are SO many dates that come up throughout your senior year it is ridiculous! From college applications, special senior events or scholarship deadlines your year is going to be packed! I honestly could not have survived this much of senior year already without my agenda. It’s the best investment you’ll make this year…trust me.
 

1. How many AP Classes?! I’ll be the first to admit that I am very guilty of putting way too much on my plate and my coursework is one of the areas I struggle with the most. I stacked up 6 AP classes on my junior year schedule and I felt smothered to death in homework. Going into senior year I knew I wanted to enjoy my last year at home with my family and friends so I cut back the number. Just keep in mind you only get one senior year.

 
 

1. The dreadful scholarship search. I share your pain! On top of everything else you’ll be juggling your grandma, grocery store bagger, and hairdresser’s dog will be asking you how you’re paying for that college diploma and it will drive you crazy!! It’s not as bad as it seems once you get organized though. I have attached a print out of the sheet I use to list the scholarships I am applying for. By October or November, you’ll have a few essays written already for college that you might as well through them into a few scholarships too. 

Scholarship Sheet Blank

Three weeks ago Jefferson DECA located in Tampa, Florida hosted their first annual Freshman Orientation. Their officer team met together multiple times to put together presentations, activities and personally called every incoming freshman registered for a business class (Talk about #SummerofDECA Dedication!) I was so impressed with what they had put together that I wanted to share a few ideas with you to bring back to your chapters for incoming DECA members!
 For those of you that are upperclassman it may be hard to think back to the time where you were transitioning into high school and couldn’t spit the 4 P’s of Marketing out in your sleep. Below I’ve listed a few activities that Jefferson DECA did at their Freshman Orientation mixed with a few of my ideas to ensure a smooth transition for your new members!  

1. Ties: A huge part of DECA is being professional dressed! It’s also a great way to get people up and moving around! Just collect a few ties and split your group into pairs. Which group can tie it the fastest? Follow this link: http://www.shirtsmyway.com/articles/split/t8/different-ways-how-to-tie-a-tie-knots-v14.php?utm_expid=101840694-108.-rKK4EgPQxuoTcfcx3VMUA.3&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D8%26sqi%3D2%26ved%3D0CDEQFjAHahUKEwifioP-qeHHAhXDJx4KHZi2DgI%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.shirtsmyway.com%252Farticles%252Fdifferent-ways-how-to-tie-a-tie-knots.php%26usg%3DAFQjCNGNziEK0uBWKs6HR0Lxy61iTSZDUA%26bvm%3Dbv.102022582%2Cd.dmo to find 30 ways to tie a tie with videos included!
    
2. Competition: When you only have 10 minutes to plan a role play thinking on your feet comes in handy. On index cards right down scenarios like “ Person A just broke your phone screen” or “Person B just ran over your foot with a shopping cart” and throw them in a hat or drawstring bag. Pick a Person A and B from the group and a scenario and have them perform in front of the group! This gets them comfortable talking to one another and thinking on their feet! 
    
3. Networking: The beginning of the year is the perfect time to give your new members a crash course on first impressions! Do they have strong handshakes? Are they practicing proper listening skills? Do they have their “elevator speeches” prepared? They’re bound to come in contact with other members and local business leaders at some point in the year so prep them now!
    

If you try any of these activities in your chapter email me at morgan@fldeca.org! I love hearing about all of your chapter’s success!  
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​As the beginning of the school year seems to be inevitably approaching and we scramble to finish our summer bucket lists and reading projects I hope that you are able to take a few moments to reflect on last year and your goals for the upcoming school year. Whether they be to get more involved on campus, prepare for college or boost your GPA a little, planning is necessary. 
Being high school students, we often fall into the trap of joining way too many clubs because our friends are joining or to make ourselves look better on a college application but I assure you it will end with mayhem. With that being said, look into the future! Where do you see yourself? Are the activities you’re devoting all your time to really helping you get closer to your goals? If not, no worries because you’re in good hands!
 Surely you have one organization or activity that consumes most of your time and that you have an unwavering passion for, whether it be school, DECA or your sport! That one activity is the moon and you are the earth. The moon and the earth are on a perfectly balanced orbit because there isn’t another moon (activity) to pull it in another direction. When you begin to book your time with other small activities that don’t relate to your main moon, you begin to get pulled in that direction and suddenly you lose track of the goal. For me, my main moon is DECA so I make the sacrifices necessary to ensure that I have the time to keep up with my responsibilities.
Check out my Over Commitment Video Blog for extra tips! Also, if you  involve yourself in hundreds of organizations just to look better for college you should read, “The Gatekeepers” by Jacques Steinberg and it will calm all of your nerves (Spoiler Alert: SAT scores aren’t everything…What?! I know! Just $12.69 on Amazon folks.)
If there is anything I can do to help you achieve your greatest endeavors, please let me know!
 

With the school year coming to an end and the summer rolling in, some of us have very high expectations for how we will be spending the next 10 weeks but if you’re like most of us your only plans are to binge watch a couple seasons of Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix.  Although it may sound enticing at the moment, think in terms of long term satisfaction. Summer is your time. You have 1,680 hours free of AP Calculus tests, Student lot traffic, early morning hours and cafeteria food. SUMMER IS YOUR PRIME TIME to do the following:

1.      Start your competitive event: Similar to athletics, when an athlete takes a few months to rest they lose some of their flexibility or stamina when the season starts back up again.  Don’t let all of the presentation tricks of the trade you learned this year go down the drain! Start thinking about your manual and write an outline of it. Not only will this give you more time to put your ideas together but you’ll avoid the dreaded GPA drop this winter when you’re able to focus on your academics because you finished your event during the summer. Attached is a fabulous 20 minute video from DECA Ontario on YouTube that gives some competition pointers to help you get started!
 
2.      Start fundraising: There is nothing like getting back to school and having to compete against the band selling chocolate, chorus selling candles and football selling cupcakes. By planning ahead your chapter will thrive in all of their fundraising endeavors (GO DECA)! Pinterest is a great resource for finding unique fundraisers. Among my other favorite sites for fundraising are Gofundme.com, fundraiserinsight.org and fundraising-ideas.org


3.      Get together with your officer team: Every DECA member loves a good cup of coffee or a Frappuccino so call up your team! It’s important to establish a bond as a team and there is no better time to do so then over the summer! By planning a few dates, you will get to know each other’s visions for your chapter and eventually you’ll be in sync with one another. Teamup is a very helpful online shared calendar that you may use to avoid conflict.

 

 Check out my video blog for more ideas on how to innovate your summer free time and above all, I wish you a safe and happy summer! 

Although relatively new to the network of Florida DECA advisors, Mr. Statman, at Brandon High School, has cannonballed right into the realm of DECA. His involvement with DECA began when he started teaching classes with the Academy of Finance.

He recently opened a coffee bar selling coffee, tea and lemonade with his student DECA members. The impact the coffee bar has had on his students, he says, “Makes them understand that business is something they can do every day”. (Not only does this help their chapter fundraise for the many events they host throughout the year but, it satisfies a requirement on the Annual Business Plan.)   

 His key points of advice for other advisors looking to open a school based enterprise are summarized into 2 main points:

1)      Consult your students: The target market of your school based enterprise is most likely high school students. With that being said, what’s better than having your high school DECA members involved in the planning process? They know the ins and outs of what the students at your school will be demanding to have. THEY ARE YOUR BEST RESOURCE! So use them! Ultimately your school based enterprise doubles as a way to fundraise but to also set off a spark, inspiring your students with more than weekly vocab words.

I have attached a generic scheduling sheet that you may use to schedule your students in different work slots, ensuring that every student has an equal opportunity to get involved.

2)      Track:  In athletics, track and field competitors keep their stamina up throughout the race and are separated by just a few tenths of a second. Similar to running in a race, when running a school based enterprise, it is imperative that you consistently keep up your records throughout your sprint and are as specific with your inventory counts as possible setting you up for first place in your race to a successful school based enterprise.

I have attached a generic sales sheet that you may customize allowing you to keep track of the quantity of each item being sold, making your inventory counts a little less painful.

 For additional advice and suggestions, please view my Advisor Spotlight Video Blog.

Already have a school based enterprise? I would love to hear about it! Email me at morgan@fldeca.org

Happy Selling! 

The Spotlight is on you!

Team 58 wants to feature you! The quirky activities you host to recruit new members, your fundraisers and how you keep your members motivated is all unique to you. It’s time for other chapters to hear about it! Chapter officers and advisors, I am calling on your chapter to participate in a Chapter Spotlight! Yes you. Why? Because there is not one other chapter that does things like you; not in Florida, not in the world.

 “What is a Chapter Spotlight?” No, it’s not a daunting speech or 30 minute presentation you will have to create, it is simply a short video explaining and showing what your chapter does best that is posted on one of the Team 58 Officer video blogs!

Complete the attached application and email it to morgan@fldeca.org if your chapter is interested in participating this year. Don’t be shy, step out of the shadows and into center stage. Your time is now.

Looking for some inspiration? Follow this link: Team 57’s video blogs and see past Chapter Spotlights!

Also, throughout the year don’t forget to check out the Chapter Spotlights on the Team 58 officers’ video blogs to find inspiration for new activities you can host in your chapters!