Money Smart Week 2012

Greetings Nebraska FBLA!

November, otherwise known as the month containing one of the most important holidays of the year: Money Smart Week. Forget Thanksgiving, Money Smart Week takes place November 12-18 and focuses on increasing financial literacy among K-12 students across the nation. What activities has your chapter planned to mark the occasion? Here are just a few tips for celebrating this November.

Work to integrate financial literacy lessons into business classes. My local chapter has found this works especially well with accounting, economics, and finance classes, as these are more financially focused already.

Invite a bank representative to speak with business classes. These presentations can be a great way to explore various topics of financial literacy, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and different
responsibilities of bank employees.

Get members involved with a younger generation of students. Arrange to have preschool or elementary school kids meet with members to complete financial literacy activities. Coloring, counting, and computer activities are creative ways to introduce young students to basic financial literacy skills.

Hopefully these three tips will help make your chapter's 2012 Money Smart Week a success! For more innovative ideas, please visit www.moneysmartnebraska.org.

Best of luck,

Julie Slama

Business and Community Leaders

Hello Nebraska FBLA!

                    

It is fall! Can you feel it? Can you see it? This is definitely my favorite time of year.  I love the weather and football and wearing fall clothes.  I hope this season is going well for you.  As we think about FBLA, we know we must continue to use our time effectively in order to get everything accomplished for the year. 

I've been doing some thinking.  FBLA stands for Future Business Leaders of America, right? So would it not make sense to bring some of our current business and community leaders into our organization? The great thing about every chapter is that in some way, shape, or form we all have someone we know who is a leader.  This could be a parent, sibling, friend, or neighbor a few houses down. Every chapter is part of a larger community, which means we have access to intelligent and professional individuals who can be important contributors to our chapters.

There are so many advantages to bringing in a business owner or leader from your community:

•Awareness of your FBLA chapter within the community

•Knowledge of a leader's business, their leadership involvement, achievements, goals, and the  process they've gone through to grow their business

•Sponsorship

▪Utilization for SLC awards and events (Connect 2 Business, Businessperson of the Year, and  more!)

Also, think of a few ways to reach out to those important members of your community.  Maybe bring them in to talk to your chapter at a regular monthly meeting, money smart week, or FBLA week.  In Aurora, our chapter goes on an annual business tour every November.  Now it's your turn to think. What are other ways we can build connections with our business owners and community leaders? 

I encourage you to consider how your chapter incorporates your community leaders into your FBLA program!  We invite to share your great ideas on our blog!  Enjoy the rest of your fall! 

I'm off! I'm going! I'm...

Allyson

*NEW* October Sweeps Challenge!

Happy Monday Nebraska FBLA Members and Advisers!

I hope you all had a great time at the Nebraska Fall Leadership Conferences last month and are ready to "ignite innovation" throughout the year! In an effort to increase membership numbers early in the year, the National Leadership Team has implemented a new program originally named September Sweeps. Due to the popularity of the program, the team has decided to extend the Deadline from September 30 to October 20!

If you haven't started your September Sweeps program, there is still time! The program consists of a series of activities and recruitment promotions to boost your membership numbers! Chapters completing the program will receive a September Sweeps pin, ribbons at the NFLC, and a certificate of participation. Simply click here to get started.

Here's the challenge: Nebraska FBLA currently sits in sixth place on the leadership board (see below). I challenge you to make it to the top three in the nation! The top states will be recognized on stage at the 2012 NFLC's! The more chapters to complete the program, the higher the points! If you are struggling with ideas for your chapter, reach out to a member of the state officer team.

We look forward to seeing you (with your September Sweeps ribbons) at the NFLC in Denver!

--Brent

September Sweeps

Last Updated: 10/4/2012 10:41:49 AM ET
Place	State	Points
1	Oklahoma	1022.5
2	Iowa	303
3	Indiana	272.7
4	Colorado	229.5
5	Kansas	181
6	Nebraska	171.6
7	Illinois	85.2
8	Missouri	80
9	Kentucky	66
10	Arkansas	59.7
11	South Carolina	44
12	California	23.2
13	North Carolina	21.6
14	Florida	17.6
15	Alabama	16.3
16	Georgia	11.5

Feed Nebraska

Well we made it! September 2012 is officially over, and we made it through a complete month of school. I knew we could do it!

I would like to give a big shout out to those members whom attended the Fall Leadership Conferences held in Kearney and Omaha this past week. The state officers had a terrific time getting to know each of you, and hopefully you discovered some great ideas to take back to your chapter!

To go along with all these great ideas is the new state project for Nebraska FBLA, Feed Nebraska. As the name may suggest, chapters are asked to support the hungry and needy people of Nebraska. This can be as simple as volunteering at a soup kitchen or holding a can drive during the holiday season!

Complete two projects and submit the form by March 1 to be recognized at the State Leadership Conference! 

This project can easily be incorporated into your chapter's program of work, and you can really make a difference in the lives of people in your community!

Good luck! And I can't wait to see your chapter get involved!

--Sally