WISCONSIN FBLA
e-Bulletin
March 2021 | Volume XIX, Issue 4 |
View as Webpage - Advisers, please use this link to distribute the WFeB to your local members. Members may subscribe to receive future publications by selecting the Join Our Mailing List link above or may added automatically by Wisconsin FBLA when you register a member with an email address through the national membership system.
STATE PRESIDENT'S WELCOME
Hello Wisconsin FBLA and
Welcome to the March Issue of the WFeB!

We have a lot of exciting updates this month regarding the State Leadership Conference that will be held virtually this April. Our State Planning Committee has been working hard to make this the best experience for all of our members. To help celebrate our local chapters during the Opening Session, we are asking for all chapters to submit one or two photos of your members in action this year. Additionally, we have extended the deadline to March 10 for members to submit National Anthem audition materials. I look forward to sharing how our local chapters have engaged members this year!

I wanted to remind you all that the deadline for the Business Achievement Awards and Community Service Awards has been extended! They will need to be submitted by May 1, 2021. Both student recognition programs will be updated this summer and members will not be able to continue progress next year. We encourage members to use the additional time to complete and submit for these national recognition awards. Please check out the National FBLA website for more information as these individual awards may strengthen your FBLA resume!

I can’t believe our year is coming to an end. I encourage all of you to take advantage of the opportunities FBLA has to offer. I look forward to the State Leadership Conference and the exciting things we have in store for all of you. If your chapter has any questions or concerns at all throughout the year, do not hesitate to email me at president@wifbla.org.

Best regards,

Brooke Allemann
Cochrane-Fountain City High School
Wisconsin FBLA President
Brooke Allemann
State President,
Cochrane-Fountain City High School
Important Deadlines & Upcoming Events:
Full WI FBLA calendar linked here
Full National calendar linked here
MARCH

APRIL
  • April 1
  • National Outstanding Chapter Recognition Due
  • Dues deadline for Chapter Membership Recognition at NLC
  • Big 10 Awards Due
  • Membership Madness and Membership Mania Due
  • FBLA National Membership Achievement Award
  • FBLA Distinguished Business Leader Scholarship
  • Middle Level Champion Chapter
  • April 12 - State Leadership Conference for HS and ML
  • April 23 - Spring Stock Market Game Ends
RLC RECAP
While our Regional Conferences were virtual this year, they were just as successful and engaging as usual! Below is a recap and highlights of what happened during the 2020-2021 WI FBLA Regionals.

First off, we had a number of phenomenal speakers with inspiring and informative messages to share! Dan Kelley, Chief Financial Officer with American Family Insurance, kicked off our opening session with a keynote address. Members heard special messages on February 6 from both Senator Ron Johnson and Senator Tammy Baldwin. Additionally, former NFL and Badger star Joe Thomas connected his leadership experience to a motivational message to members with an encouragement to pursue a degree in Business Administration. Visit the Wisconsin FBLA YouTube Channel to view these special video messages.

This year’s Regionals also featured a number of fun and interactive activities for chapters to take part in. Whether it was the LinkedIn workshop presented by Microsoft employees or the Resume Building Workshop by a Cheryl Kothe, Kenosha's CTE coordinator. Regional vice presidents also developed live Kahoot and Gimkit competitions providing a statewide opportunity for members to showcase their FBLA and business knowledge. 

If you have not done so already, check out the competitive event awards ceremony presented by each Region (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) including the voting results of our 2021-2022 Region Vice President elections. Congratulations to all who participated! If you have any questions about Regionals or are having difficulty accessing anything, please reach out to me at region1vp@wifbla.org or your respective Regional Vice President.
Henry Pike,
Region I Vice President, Cameron High School
MARCH OF DIMES & MIDDLE LEVEL UPDATES
Although the Regional Leadership Conferences have passed, and we are quickly approaching the State Leadership conference, there is plenty of time to raise awareness or fundraise as a chapter for FBLA’s national service partner the March of Dimes. Ensuring that Wisconsin FBLA commits to service is a pivotal pillar of the FBLA experience, and there are many ways of getting involved. You can read more about FBLA and the March of Dimes here, or even directly donate to the cause here! If your chapter is looking for ideas on how to get involved, please feel free to contact me at vp@wifbla.org. 

Just a few weeks ago on February 11, Wisconsin FBLA middle level members connected with Michelle Grajkowski, Director of Wisconsin Business World, as part of a Virtual Mini-Business World Challenge! This event was an incredible opportunity for Middle Level students to hear from Joe Zietlow, Industry and Trade Association Manager at Kwik Trip, participate in team building activities, create presentations, and have fun! Wisconsin FBLA is thankful for the individuals who helped make this event a success. The team members from Cashton Middle School (Sammi Kleba, Marlee Schroeder, and Sarah Schroeder) each received a $25 gift card for their winning concept for Kwik Trip to expand services and products to sell cakes as part of a plan to promote special birthday bundles.
ML Innovation Event
Brenen Skalitzky, Vice President
State Vice President, Waterloo High School

NLC PROGRAMMING
Kari Kelly,
State Reporter, Oak Creek High School






Although SLC is still upon us, it is never too early to look ahead to the National Leadership Conference! Due to the ongoing public health concerns, the national office has decided that this year’s event will be held online. Guidelines regarding competitive event policies are continuing to be finalized and are anticipated to be shared soon.  

All of the following submissions have been pushed back and are now due May 1, 2021. 
  • FBLA national dues deadlines eligibility date for FBLA voting delegates and national level competitive events  
  • National dues deadline to receive spring publications  
  • National Awards Program Committee Application  
  • BAA: Future, Business, and Leader awards  
  • CSA Awards: Community and Service awards 
  • Middle Level LEAD Bronze, Silver, Gold Awards: Receipt deadline 

The National Office is also enlisting advisers to share their ideas of potential workshops and member engagement sessions that will be provided during NLC. More information for the Call for Presentations can be found here. We encourage advisers to engage with the adviser discussion page in order to find more understanding for management of their chapters as well.
GOVERNMENT DAY & FBLA WEEK
Audrey Newkirk
Region IV Vice President, Ithaca High School




On February 17, our state officer team had the opportunity to partake in the annual Government CTSO Day. Although typically an in-person event, all state CTSO advisers were able to coordinate a virtual experience for state officers to meet and speak with Wisconsin state legislators. This was a great opportunity for our state team to collaborate with other national student organization leaders in order to advocate for Career Technical Education and Career Technical Student Organizations.

FBLA Week was observed from February 14 through February 20. During this week, FBLA members participated in different activities each day. First, on February 14, it was Share Your FBLA-PBL Story Day, where members had an opportunity to post why they joined FBLA-PBL. On February 15 there was the National President’s Forum Webinar. On February 16, it was Each One Reach One Day. February 17, it was Adviser Appreciation Day and Professional Attire Day. February 18, it was Career Awareness Day, where members could connect with the Professional Division and other community leaders to explore different careers. On February 19, it was FBLA-PBL Spirit Day and Finally, on February 20, it was Community Service Day. Members planned and participated in community service to give back to their community. Overall, it was a great week to celebrate FBLA!
STATE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Now that this year’s RLC has come to a close, it is exciting to be looking forward to the 67th State Leadership Conference! This one-day virtual conference will be a fantastic opportunity for
members to compete in their events they have been diligently preparing for and engage with other Wisconsin FBLA members around the state.

Registration has closed for this year’s event. A majority of the competitive event materials will be submitted by March 3. Additional online testing is available now through March 10. For a list of all pre-conference deadlines visit https://dpi.wi.gov/fbla/conferences/slc/deadlines. All competitive event results will be announced in the closing session on April 12 at 4:30 PM.

On April 12, members will be able to engage with opening and closing sessions as well as leadership programming virtually either individually or as a socially-distanced chapter. Leadership programming will run from the end of opening session around 9:45 AM to the beginning of the closing session around 4:30 PM. These sessions will provide members with numerous opportunities to grow in their leadership and learn about FBLA, business, and future careers in exciting ways! The conference mobile app available through Guidebook will be released in March with session details and meeting information.

We are thrilled to see the amazing ways members will take advantage of all this year’s SLC has to offer. For further information on this year’s RLC, please visit the WI FBLA SLC webpage.
Sara Booher,
State Parliamentarian, Menomonee Falls High School
Wisconsin FBLA is pleased to have had a successful year so far and is ready to continue to provide an exceptional member experience.
Please continue to reach out to our executive officers for questions and assistance, as well as stay tuned to all WI FBLA social media pages for the newest updates. Visit our contact page for more options.
Wisconsin Future Business Leaders of America

View past WFeB publications online at https://dpi.wi.gov/fbla/news