IN THIS EDITION

by Eastern Region VP, Hasher Nisar

updates on activities and conferences from the Virgin Islands, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Maryland,

Washington DC, and New Jersey

Q&A with a PA middle level chapter

learn more about what’s going on in Pennsylvania

learn more about what’s going in New Jersey FBLA

Hasher Nisar is a senior at Cheshire High School in Connecticut. He moved back to

the United States from Pakistan in 2008. FBLA was one of the first organizations

he got involved with which helped him grow as a person, make new friends, and

acclimate into the culture. He served as the CHS FBLA Fundraising Committee

Chairman and State Secretary. He was elected as State President for the 2011-

2012 term. In addition, Hasher serves as the Vice Executive Director of the Enough

Foundation and is Class President. He looks forward to improving communication,

increasing membership, and strengthening the FBLA programs!

…get to know Hasher Nisar

Letter to the Membership

an update from your Eastern Region VP, Hasher Nisar Hello Eastern Region FBLA Members and Advisers! I can’t believe that it is April! The 2011-2012 FBLA-PBL membership year has gone by so fast. We only have two months left till the National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas and we still have a lot of work to do. I hope all of you enjoyed your holiday break and are doing well in school. I would like to update you on some of the things that have taken place in the past six months and what you can look forward to for the next four months. I hope you have noticed the change in communication. This year we, the National Officer Team, have completely changed the way we communicate with you. We have constantly been using our Facebook pages (“Eastern Region FBLA” and “National FBLA Eastern Region Vice President”) and Twitter accounts (@NatFBLAERVP) to keep you updated on the latest information. I have taken it a step further. I have also created a Facebook group for all the State Officers in the Eastern Region. I did my best to add all the State Officers from the Eastern Region. The name of this group is “Eastern Region State Officer Room.” If you are a State Officer and are not a part of this group, please e-mail me and I will add you right away. I have also worked with the Eastern Region Webmaster Sohum Pawar to completely revamp our website. Please take a look: http://regions.fbla-pbl.org/default.asp?region=fber. The National Officer Team has also created a resource packet which you should have received by now. We have continuously been working on increasing membership. If you need ideas or tips on how to increase membership for your state or chapter, please feel free to contact me. For the next few months, all of us are going to be busy. Your State Leadership Conference may have already taken place or may be coming up! Please make sure that you are encouraging your members to participate in these conferences. Promote the benefits of participating in competitive events and also promote the National Leadership Conference. Talk about the workshops that members can attend and the scholarships that they can compete for. Most importantly, talk about the people they will be able to meet and the connections they will be able to make. Make sure you also keep track of the goals that you had set in the beginning of the year for your state or chapter. If there is any way I can help you in achieving your goals, please feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to help. Only two months till our strengths are tested. Only two months till our risks are rewarded. Only two months till we discover our “gateway to greatness.” So, let’s make these two months count.

contributed our time to the Salvation Army’s Soup Kitchen where we served and delivered food to people who were less fortunate. December we chose to give back to the seniors of our community by giving gifts to all the seniors on the Angle Tree at the Tutu Park Mall.

by Virgin Island FBLA President, Javon Venzen This year the Officers Training was held at St. Croix Carambola hotel and Resort on October 28, 2011. It was unique in that officers for the Career Vocational and Technical Education organizations were invited to be trained by none other than Mrs. Lisa Smothers. With the presence of FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, and Skills USA, we fostered new friendships as we garnered leadership skills. November we

by NY FBLA President, Marc Cohen Hurricane Irene made its way up the east coast of New York starting at approximately 9:00 a.m on August 28, 2011. Eastern New York suffered billions in damage and the worst flooding in centuries. New York FBLA mobilized a relief effort to assist those chapters that were affected by collecting school supplies and cash donations which were later distributed. Many schools participated and proved that when we unite we’re unstoppable. Starting in early October came our Fall District Meetings during which members around the state engaged in exciting workshops that prepared them for the great year ahead.

by PA FBLA President, Cooper Nordquist Fall has proven to be successful for Pennsylvania as we have been working hard at trying to step through the Gateway To Greatness. Through economic strife PA has fared well, keeping our membership up and our goals high. The PAFBLA officer team hosted a new Pie in the Face fundraiser at the State Leadership Workshop. Members & advisers bought chances to “pie” a state officer, executive committee adviser, or state management team member. PA is looking forward to an even more successful spring as we hold our State Leadership Conference and guide even more members to find their Greatness!

Puerto Rico FBLA - Orlando Colon Soton More than 1,800 FBLA members from all regions of Puerto Rico gathered to our 2nd Walk Alert for Premature Babies of March of Dimes. The walk was held last November 4, 2011 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and its donation raised exceeded $5,000. In addition to this activity we had workshops of parliamentarians procedures, entrepreneurship and leadership, our initiations, visits to schools and our State Confraternization in which we had over 1,000 FBLA members. Also, we are preparing our 1st FBLA Relay for Life on May, 2012.

by Maryland FBLA President, Shirley Zhu Maryland FBLA has had a very successful year so far. We started the year with the State Fall Leadership Conference in Ocean City, Maryland on October 31 to November 1, 2011. We also attended the National Fall Leadership Conference in Philadelphia. On November 14, 2011, Maryland FBLA State Officers assisted in facilitating the Baltimore March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction, which raised over $135,000 for the March of Dimes. The Regional Vice Presidents will be conducting their regional conferences throughout the month of February. Finally, to kick off FBLA week, the State Officers met with Governor Martin O’Malley at the Maryland State House to talk about FBLA and the importance of business education. by DC FBLA President, Bobby C. King In our DC chapter, FBLA has established a financial literacy program to teach our students lessons in handling money since many are almost of college age. Our push for financial literacy as a state chapter started with a roundtable with four businesspeople making presentations. This year the FBLA has initiated the Go Green Initiative that promises to bring awareness to our respective schools on the issue of the environment and ways we can be cleaner. In many schools, DC’s FBLA has initiated the March of Dimes campaigns. Some have sold baked goods whereas others hosted blue-jeans dances to raise money. by New Jersey President Laura Sorice New Jersey FBLA is embracing this year’s National Theme of “Gateway to Greatness” by discovering innovative ways to succeed. In January, we kicked off our competition season with Regional Testing. For the first time, local chapters were able to compete from their individual school computers. The state celebrated success in this pilot program and had a great NJ FBLA State Leadership Conference. Students competed, attended a variety of workshops, and met other members from throughout NJ. We cannot wait to continue its success in 2012 and meet members from other states at the 2012 NLC Texas!

Q1. What is your name? Derek Selleck Q2. How long have you been an FBLA advisor? I have been an FBLA advisor for 12 years. Q3. When did you become a Middle Level advisor? I became a Middle Level advisor about 7 years ago. Q4. What steps were taken in order to activate a Middle Level chapter? I had to complete the application and sent it in. My school is a 7th through 12th grade building and the 7th and 8th graders were always interested in being in our FBLA activities. Therefore, it was an easy process for our school. Q5. How many Middle Level members do you currently have? Around 15 members Q6. Do you have Middle Level chapter meetings? If so, how often do they meet? Do any speakers come to these meetings? My middle level chapter does everything that my high chapter does. We run one joint meeting. Each chapter has their own set of officers. We do get speakers in for meetings and special activities. Q7. Does your FBLA chapter guide and help your Middle Level chapter? Again since it is so similar to the high school guide, I don’t use it as much as an advisor that might only have a middle level chapter. The guide is great in helping set up your activities and staying organized. Q8. Do you have any officers for your Middle Level chapter? If so, do they conduct the meetings? Yes I do and they run the meetings with the high school officers jointly. Q9. What type of activities does your Middle Level chapter participate in? The participate in community service activities, fundraising for the state project, competitive events at our RLC, achievement program Q10. Are there any honorable achievements in your Middle Level Chapter? If so, what are they? Since the middle level is essentially merged with the high school chapter the activities are the same. We recently all went to our elementary school and did holiday activities with the students in grades 4 to third. Santa, Mrs. Clause, some elves and reindeer also visited the kids that day. Q11. Do they do any community service activities? If so, what are some examples? So far this year we have assisted in Flood Clean Up, Haunted House for Habitat for Humanity, Open Swim for Kids Night Out, Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk and many more smaller activities Q12. Does having a Middle Level chapter help recruit members for FBLA? I believe that it helps get kids involved at any earlier age. The students that join in 7th grade tend to be actively involved in FBLA right through graduation. I also see it helping the school environment as the older kids are mentoring my middle level students.

a Q&A of a Pennsylvania FBLA middle level

chapter conducted by Danielle DuBee

Great things are underway this year for New Jersey FBLA as members discover the Keys to

Success. This year has been a year of change. Keeping up with the changing times of a brand new

year, the State Executive Team has collectively created and implemented a lot of exciting,

innovative changes for the state chapter. First and foremost the greatest change for members

this year was the transition of Regional competitions to online testing. Members began

competing the first week of January up until the Friday of the second week. For many this was a

totally different experience but the Board is confident that these changes are necessary and will

be successful as our organization charges through 2012 with the San Antonio NLC in our

crosshairs. Also the venue of the State Leadership Conference has been changed to a brand new

location for our members to network, compete, and sharpen their business and leadership skills.

The state is also proud to introduce “The Bridge Program” headed by our Membership Vice

President, Ms. Kyung Sun Lee.

This new program gives new, upcoming chapters the

chance to be taken under the wing of an established chapter to

strengthen its foundation and grow in the NJ FBLA

organization. The established chapters will help struggling

chapters through exchange of ideas, support, and guidance

anywhere from meetings to community service events. Also

underway it’s getting closer to that time of year again! The 2nd

Annual “NJ FBLA Fight for Preemies Dodgeball Tournament” is

set to take place Friday April, 27th at South Brunswick High

School. Members are encouraged to Unlock [Their] Hearts” and

participate in yet another exciting event of competition, fun,

food, and friends. Last year NJ FBLA was able to raise a

an update from

New Jersey FBLA

significant amount of money

for the March of Dimes and we

expectantly await to reach this

year’s goal of $50,000.

The State Board is

excited for all the great

changes as members journey

through their Gateway to

Greatness for another

phenomenal year.

by Dan

Abraham

also choose a worthy organization to partner with for the year. This year the American Heart Association was chosen as the state project. This prompted the officers to create the slogan, “Be a Heart Hero…Leave a Legacy.” After choosing the American Heart Association as the state project, the officers then discussed plans of work and state goals.

Plans of work included: t-shirt sales, basket auction, dodgeball tournament, and a pie in the face contest. All of these would be implemented into the State Leadership Workshop. Goals included: raising $35,000 for the American Heart Association and completing 55,000 community service hours.Following this meeting was the National Leadership Conference in which hundreds of enthusiastic Pennslyvania members attended. The Pennsylvania chapter continued its excellence at the conference and did not leave empty handed. Pennsylvania finished in second as the state with the highest number of awards received next to California. We had a total of 56 award winners with 6 first place finishes.

The enthusiasm of the PA FBLA members didn’t stop at the NLC but continued in to the State Leadership Workshop held in Lancaster, PA. The workshop was kicked off a keynote speech made by Mr. Ryan Underwood of Tri-Leadership. The workshop was filled with two days of informative workshops and fundraising activites for the American Heart Association. As a result of the the basket auction, dodgeball tournament, t-shirt sale, and the pie in the face contest, PA FBLA raised over $4,000 for the American Heart Association. Pennsylvania FBLA is already on its way to having another highly successful year and is looking forward to its State Leadership Conference in April!

an update by Bethany

Barefoot

from

Pennsylvania FBLA The 2011-2012

Pennsylvania state officers have been staying busy this year in order to maintain its state chapter’s continuing success for over 60 years. Early on in June the officers met to discuss the upcoming events for PA FBLA. Each year at this meeting, the state officers

The Eastern Express is the official newsletter of the National FBLA

Eastern Region that is published by members.

The Eastern Express is created and maintained by the Eastern Region

Communication Director, Kaitlin Chaung. Additionally, all articles are

written by the National Eastern Region Vice President, Hasher Nisar,

and the Eastern Region Executive Board. The Board members are as

follows:

Marc Cohen (Secretary)

Kaitlin Chaung (Communications Director)

Sohum Pawar (Webmaster)

Aatish Bathija (First Vice-President’s Assistant)

Tim Mansure (Vice President’s Assistant)

Danielle DuBee (Vice President’s Assistant)

Bethany Barefoot (Vice President’s Assistant)

Daniel Abraham (Vice President’s Assistant)

Jash Patel (Treasurer)

Laura Sorice (National President’s Assistant)

If there are any questions, suggestions, or new

ideas, feel free to contact Hasher at

fblaervp@fbla.org or Kaitlin at

historian@njfbla.org.

a note from the editor….