Illinois Voice

Inside this issue

Community Service ....... 2

Crossing Paths .............. 3

FBLA Area Conference .. 4

Competing in PBL ......... 5

Shawnee PBL ............... 6

Message from your President

Hello PBL Members! It is that time of year again where we start preparing for the State Leadership Conference and all that goes along with it. Preparing for the State Leadership Conference always brings excitement back into my responsi-bilities. It’s been cold and dreary this winter and preparing for my events helps warm me right up! This year should be an excellent SLC. We will be kicking off our 50th anniversary at this year’s State Leadership Confer-ence. For those of you who don’t know, Illinois PBL was char-tered in 1964. The first SLC was held at Centralia Junior Col-lege—which is now called Kaskaskia College. To make this 50th anniversary even more exciting, our key-note speaker will be quite a memorable one. Our keynote speaker is Gabe Lozano. He is an entrepreneur and the crea-tor of LockerDome. Want to find out more about him and all his accomplishments?Check him out here. http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/BizNext/2012/08/7-question-with-gabe-lozano-ceo-of.html?page=all

Hope to see you soon and don’t forget to study for those competitive events! Heather Borowiak Southern Illinois University 2012-2014 Illinois PBL State President

Winter 2013 Volume 1, Issue 1

Community Service By: Eric Smith

Life in FBLA-PBL is about being one unit, one family. Being able to communicate and

achieve goals together is putting excellence in action. A big part in achieving these actions is

to be able to serve the community. The chapter at Southern Illinois University is trying to

achieve these goals by introducing a weekly community service project.

Our VP of Membership, Jacob Walker, was the original founder of this project. Before

joining the SIU chapter, Jake would volunteer at a local animal shelter near the university. He

wanted to incorporate his individual weekly community service project into a group service

event for the whole chapter to participate in. St. Francis is a non-profit animal welfare organi-

zation that is enthusiastic about rescuing lost, unwanted and abandoned pets. The shelter is run

purely by volunteers from around Southern Illinois.

New volunteers have many options to choose from when they first commit to the shel-

ter. A few options would be walking the dogs up and down the road for a few hours, socializ-

ing with the dogs in their cages, as with the cats. The more experienced volunteers maintain

the cages, feed the animals and provide the friendly, and provide the upbeat behavior that eve-

ryone needs. How these animals are treated is their safety net to the home that they are in need

of. These gentle, docile creatures deserve the tender loving care that everyone is giving.

In response to this, the SIU chapter is proud to serve this shelter and volunteer. The

first group outing was a success. Everyone that had gone to St. Francis Animal Shelter had a

wonderful time with all the animals. Ever since that first outing, it was automatically decided

that our chapter would definitely volunteer at the shelter again. Being able to serve this simple

little task as a chapter has brought our organization together.

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Bring your change to vote for the cutest baby

contest at SLC. All proceeds will be donated

to March of Dimes on behalf of Daniel Wellen

Crossing Paths and Reaching Out By: Kammer Strachan

When we develop an attachment to something, saying goodbye can be one of the hardest actions we ever take. Whether we find ourselves with a deep connection to people who come into our lives, places we have lived, or with the organizations to which we have dedicated ourselves, having to part ways rarely leaves us with a pleasant taste in our mouths. Such was the case for me at the 2013 FBLA National Leadership Conference in Anaheim. Despite the opportunity to spend a few days in the southern California sun, wandering through Disneyland, and experiencing the excitement of the NLC with some of my closest friends, in the back of my mind stood an unpleasant reality. After three years of FBLA being the one thing I could always turn to in order to find a place where I felt I belonged, this was the last time I would be doing anything as a member. Add to that the fact that I was leaving my home state for college, and the near certainty that I would rarely see most of my FBLA friends again, and it is safe to say that my emotions were running a bit high. So you can imagine my surprise when, during breakfast on our last day there, I get a text from a fellow graduated senior (and fellow former state officer) saying that he had gotten my number from another member of my group, and we needed to meet since we would both be going to Northwestern in the fall. (While this may not sound that surpris-ing, the odds of the two of us happening to meet each other there were incredibly small.) And in that one moment, I realized FBLA had one final lesson to teach me: never be afraid to reach out. We were able to set up a time to meet that afternoon, and then spent a good amount of time during the awards ceremony bonding over our shared experiences in this organization and that we were both looking forward to our upcoming move to Chicago (in addition to trading remarks about the people who made it on stage with blatant dress code violations). We stayed in touch through the rest of the summer, and our friendship contin-ues today, both since we suffer through economics and statistics classes together, and since we have both joined Phi Beta Lambda. For that was the other thing I truly realized that day. FBLA-PBL is designed to be with its members for a lifetime, and joining PBL is the natural next step upon graduating high school. And what I realized that day, and the lesson I was taught about reaching out, can be repeated to all members of this organization. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your fellow students about getting involved, or to FBLA members about joining the next divi-sion of the organization. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to someone new, because you never know where that connection might take you or what sort of friendship might develop. After all, communication is simply another way that we continue to put Excel-lence in Action, every day.

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LIFETIME ORGANIZATION

Southwestern Area FBLA Conference

By: Jessie George

On January 18, over 330 FBLA members and their advisers from the Southwestern area

gathered at Kaskaskia College for the Southwestern Area FBLA Conference. Many PBL mem-

bers from the Kaskaskia College, SWIC, SIU, and Virtual chapters attended and helped the

event run smoothly and efficiently.

I was a FBLA member for all four years of high school and just two years ago I was one

of the many FBLA members anxiously awaiting their time to compete at area conference. This

school year is my first year in PBL and it has been remarkable to see how much PBL and its

members support high school FBLA members and advisers.

At the Southwestern Area Conference, I had the privilege of being a timekeeper for two

different performance events. As I was now the one sitting on the other side of the room, op-

posed to being the one competing like I did in high school, it was a new experience for me to

get the chance to see how the process really works. I learned that the judges aren’t really out to

get you, contrary to what others might believe. There was one instance during one of the ses-

sions that a competitor was having major technical difficulties that were out of their control.

The two judges in the room with me helped them solve their problems and they went on to

placing first in their competition. The judges do care about what you have prepared and love

seeing you succeed.

I also got the chance to sit in on two different workshops ran by a fellow KC PBL mem-

ber. It made me proud to be a member of this organization when I saw FBLA members helping

one another out and succeeding together countless times during the workshops. I have been in

FBLA for a long time and this area conference opened my eyes to the numerous doors it opens

and the foundation it provides to lives just starting out in the world of business.

The conference ended with the presenting of the awards and the installation of the new

officers. As a PBL member, it was a great experience to be a part of the background work that

put together a FBLA area conference.

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The Need to Know about Competing By: Nicole Gharbawi

The State Leadership Conference is coming up. A big part of state is competing in competitive events and having the ability to represent the state at Nationals. A lot of new events have been introduced this year to spice up the competition list. Competition is fun for most members but it is also very important. Competing in the business related events that Phi Beta Lambda offers is a great way to expand your skill set and challenger yourself in a new category you may not have been interested in before.

The three categories PBL offers are production, performance, and written. All

three of these types of competition have individual and team event options. The basics of production events are design, or computer based events that test your skills in producing a type of media, document, or organizational means for business. They test your knowledge in the given programs and technologies while challenging you in your design ability. Pro-duction events are not hugely competed in because they typically require more back-ground knowledge of how the specified programs work.

For those who are more about speaking and showmanship, performance events are

good options. Performance events challenge competitors on poise, clarity in thought, speech organization, and presence among other things. For those who want to improve their speaking ability or are already comfortable but want to push themselves further, per-formance events are good option. The last category is the written tests which usually entail a broad knowledge of a topic. These one hundred question tests will truly test you on how well you know business topics.

The best way to prepare for an event is by studying beforehand. There are practice written tests available and is really the best way to prepare for a written test other than do-ing outside studying. The best and only way to prepare for a performance event is to prac-tice over and over again. Always, always look at the rating sheets. The rating sheets will tell you exactly what you are being judged on and what the judges are looking for. Things to remember about doing a performance event are the time requirements, introduce your-self to the judges, and don’t rush. The production tests are a little harder to study for but they do have practice tests as well. It’s important to read the rating sheets for these as well. Just remember to take advantage of all the resources available to you and you can’t go wrong. Good luck competing at state!

5

Excellence

In

Action

Shawnee PBL By: Richard Tucker

On the 12th day of February the Shawnee Community College Chapter of Phi Beta

Lambda hosted the Owner of Masters Choice Seed Corn, Lyn Crabtree. Our conference

started off with an introduction of the speaker by Richard Tucker, SCC Parliamentarian;

member who Mr. Crabtree to promote PBL Week. After an introduction, Mr. Crabtree

gave a bio of how he acquired Masters Choice, and how he has grown the business from

3000 units of corn a season in 2005 to now over 100,000 units of corn, which will be

shipped this year alone. Masters Choice is an Organic seed corn company that produces

primarily for feed to livestock such as hogs, dairy cattle, cattle, and chickens. He also not-

ed that they have produced 16000 new breeds of corn this year alone, and out of that

16000 there will probably be about three that make the cut to be produced for distribution.

In the discussion Mr. Crabtree, discussed the different facilities that he now operates, and

what each of the responsibilities are for each location.

The discussion then turned to business ethics, and what Masters Choice is founded

on. In that, Mr. Crabtree was able to give his personal testimony, and let everyone know

that this company is a Christ centered organization. He then introduced Scott Harris, who

talked about the Marketing Department, and how he personally sells to distributors, as

well as individual farmers and it is not only his belief but the belief of the company that it

does not matter if you are an individual farmer or a distributor that has a thousand sales

people under you, everyone gets the same attention and the same amount of his time each

time he has an encounter with anyone.

Mr. Crabtree and Mr. Harris, made a challenge to all those in attendance, when

they go to work and find a job; find one that challenges them, but also find one that has a

place where they fit in. Scott Harris, recited the quote, “If you find a job that you do what

you love, you will never have to “work” a day in your life”. Mr. Harris also gave a short

bio of himself and the jobs that he has had to “work” at in his life, and said that he could-

n’t imagine working for another company other than Masters Choice. The session lasted

approximately one hour, with a question and answer session incorporated within that time

period. The Shawnee Community College Phi Beta Lambda chapter also extended a spe-

cial invitation to the agriculture classes at Shawnee Community College so that we can

reach outside of the typical “business” majors, to possibly increase our membership.

The presentation was an insightful look into both business growth, as well as busi-

ness ethics, and the power of the growth of a

small business. MastersChoice when it began

wasn’t even a contender against the bigger

corporations such as ADM Growmark, Dow,

Dekalb, and others. SCC Phi Beta Lambda

members gained numerous business concepts

through participation in the presentation, addi-

tionally bringing organizational publicity to

the SCC student body.

6

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with a

quarter million students preparing for careers in business and business-related fields. The association has

four divisions:

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) for high school students;

FBLA-Middle Level for junior high, middle, and intermediate school students;

Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) for postsecondary students; and

Professional Division for businesspeople, FBLA-PBL alumni, educators, and parents who support the goals

of the association.

FBLA-PBL is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, and organized on local, state, and national levels. Business

teachers, advisers, and advisory councils (including school officials, businesspeople, and community repre-

sentatives) guide local chapters. State advisers and committee members coordinate chapter activities for the

national organization.

The FBLA concept was developed in 1937 by Dr. Hamden L. Forkner of Columbia University. The first high

school chapter was chartered in Johnson City, Tennessee on February 3, 1942. In 1958, the first PBL colle-

giate chapter was chartered in Iowa. The Professional Division, originally the Alumni Division, began in 1979.

Joining FBLA-PBL in 1994 was the FBLA-Middle Level for students in grades 5-9.

The national board of directors is comprised of local teachers, state educators, business leaders, and the

division presidents.

About our CTSO

Thank you from your State Officers

State President:

Heather Borowiak

VP of Programs:

Cortney McGowan

VP of Membership:

Bradley Maschhofff

VP of Communication:

Candi Pucek

State Adviser:

Tina Dierkes

State Liaison:

Kevin Hoffman

FBLA-PBL State Chair:

Darlene Shannon

Upcoming Events:

SLC Registration/CMAP

Deadline:

March 1st.

State Officer Application

deadline:

March 22nd.

SLC:

April 4th-5th

in Effingham, IL

Officer training to follow

NLC:

June 24-27 in Nashville TN

www.il-fblapbl.org/

pbl

Excellence in Action