New Member Reception

Ahhh...finally home in my comfy chair and I feel like updating the blog for the second time today. Just got home from the first ever BP-BPA New Member Reception. What a nice ceremony that was! I would like to thank our students who stepped in to help us out; Grace, Jenna, Royce and Austin. Also a big thanks to the officers who worked hard to make this evening a nice one to welcome our newest members.

A big apology to Nicole R.! I'm so sorry I left your name off the program!! It was totally my fault. Although Cameron made the program, I gave him the list of names, and I just missed yours. A million apologies!

It was terrific to have a National Officer present! Thanks to Kevin Benjamin for coming to our ceremony at our humble Bristol-Plymouth! I don't want to ever forget what an honor it is to have a national officer at one of our events, just because we know him so well. For those of you new members who may not know, Kevin graduated from Bristol Plymouth in 2008. He joined BPA as a sophomore, just like you! He had no idea what he was in store for! Kevin was a rock-star type of kid with unruly red hair. He wore AC/DC t-shirts every day and his biggest passion was baseball! Although he continued with baseball throughout his years at BP, he also LOVED BPA. When he announced to me in his Senior year that he would like to run for national officer, I jumped on board. He exhibited all of the qualities! He was personable, well liked by other students, serious and dedicated to BPA, and was a quick study! To see Kevin's announcement to vice president at the national conference click here. Anyway, when he shows up at one of our events, it's really cool. Thanks Kev!

To the new members - my best advice to you is to really listen to what Mrs. Powers and I have to tell you! Your first year is full of questions and it can be very confusing! Since we've done it a million times, we really know what works best for you! Think of us as your coaches! Ask other students who have been there before you and try your best. I hope to be able to take you all to Anaheim, California in May!

It was so nice meeting many of the parents tonight.  If I didn't get a chance to talk to you, I hope that we get to know each other over the year.  Please, send me an email at mrssylvia1010@yahoo.com, if you wish to be added to my distribution list.  I send numerous emails to the students reminding them of upcoming events and deadlines.

Mrs. Powers, thank you for all of your help!  I love you!

Here is a picture of our Torch participants.  Click on the picture for it's full size. :)  Yay for not burning down the school!   I'll put the rest of the pics on our facebook - over at bp bpa chapter.

BPA Happenings - December

Hi everyone! Some of you missed the meeting yesterday. Just to keep you informed, our next meetings have been scheduled for January 20, February 9 (You will need to pay for states at this meeting; $175.00), and March 9. Please mark your calendar and keep in mind that preferential treatment is always given to those who are active, involved members. I do understand that we are all busy and have other extracurricular activities, but too many absences will negatively affect you.

I'm very excited for the upcoming new member initiation! This is the first time we have ever had such an event! Your officer team has come up with so many great ideas AND they're acting on them!

If you haven't already signed up for your events, you must do so immediately. Preferential treatment for events is given to those who signed up on time. For instance, I can only send 4 or 5 people to participate in Desktop Publishing. Those who signed up by the deadline will get a higher score during the in-house competition.

Our treasury is in excellent shape with over $8,000!

Soon I'll be posting pictures of our new member initiation, so be on the lookout!

It's official!

I'm so excited to get things underway. Now that we have our new officers in their positions, we can do just that! If you see any of our officers out and about, take a second to congratulate them. They had to undergo a grueling interview and they all had some pretty great ideas! We'll see you all at our next meeting on November 18!

Your officers are:

President - Timmy
Vice President - Audri
Secretary - Brendan
Treasurer - Cameron
Historian - Allison

YAY

New Officers!

I'd like to formally congratulate our new officer team! Tim, Allison, Audri, Cameron and Brendan were the top vote-getters. The race between all of the candidates was very close!

The new officers have their work cut out for them - in the near future and in the long run. They will be interviewing on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week and then will find out on Thursday which positions they will serve. They will then be asked to come up with some goals for our chapter to work towards this year. If anyone has any suggestions, please post them here. I have a few of my own ideas, and I bet the officers have some ideas too!!

If anyone has any good questions for me to ask the officer candidates, post them here as well. I'd love to take questions from our members! Take a moment to congratulate our new leadership and also thank everyone who ran. Don't forget to friend request us over on Facebook - bpbpa!

October Updates

MEETING CORRECTION TIME - MEETING IS WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14!!!

Howdy to the members-to-be! We're gearing up for our elections next week! So far we have a hefty ballot which includes Timmy, Adriana, Audriana, Stephen, Nick, Ethan, Tyler, Allison, Hayley, Trevor and maybe one or two others! The candidates may want to go to the BPA website to download the National Officer Fact Sheet. You can find it linked off this page. The top 5 vote-getters next week will have an interview with Mrs. Powers and me in the near future. I would think that we would pull some questions out of this fact sheet. (for sure!)

If anyone else wants to be included on the ballot, please let me know by Friday. Expectations from the officers are high - so don't run if you can't commit. Officers have to be present at all of our functions, have to attend all meetings, have to assist other members and me, and be the best cheerleaders for our chapter. Special officer meetings will also take place during the school year.

Everyone is reminded to submit their dues of $22 by the October 14 meeting. Looking forward to some exciting things!

Check out our new meeting promo!!

Check out our newest promo video! Let me know what you think. hahaha!!!

School Year 2009-2010

Hello students! It won't be long before we're going full steam ahead in a new year of BPA! The prize is sweet this year. (As it always is!) Our national trip will be Anaheim California. Yep - Disneyland! Maybe you don't like Disneyland, but I think that's pretty much impossible and would make you Un-American!!

I have some plans so far. Naturally we'll be hosting a talent show the Friday before Thanksgiving. Keep an ear and eye out for new talent. I love to tap into the new Freshmen!! The Fall Leadership Conference has been booked for October, I believe. This is an event where we take our officers. Which brings me to the next point. Who wants to run for office? Remember, our guidelines for office will be mimicking those of nationals. Anyone who wants to run, can do so. You will give a speech and then the members vote. The top votes get to interview with a panel of teachers and we will place you in the position for which you are best suited. This should help alleviate the "popularity" vote. I'm hoping for a dynamic, hard-working officer team this year!

Well that's it for now. Comment on this post so I can see if you're all still around and if you're psyched for BPA!!

Advisors Having Fun!

Mrs. Powers and I were heading to get Grace at Six Flags when we passed the Pirate Ship. We jumped on and had fun. We were just making sure it was safe for our students to ride. lol Turn your volume down!

Congratulations!

Wow! What an amazing SLC team!! Mrs. Powers and I are so lucky to have a wonderful batch of kids because you make our "job" not a job at all. It's a pleasure to attend these conferences with you and watch you all experience new things and take in all that you can. I hope you were able to make some new friends, perhaps quite a few memories and that you had a positive experience.

Please watch this blog and/or your email as I will be moving quickly to get you some prices for our national trip, okay? Talk to your parents to see if you can go to nationals - I'm thinking the trip will cost no more than $400 - but that's just a prelminary figure. Could go up or down....depending on flights, etc.

I'll be uploading videos to our YouTube asap. If you have any, send them to me by email or bring them to me on a CD or USB drive. Thanks!!

GREAT job everyone!!

Notice for Parents!

Dear Parents/Guardians:

I am very excited about the students competing this year at the Business Professionals of America State Leadership Conference on March 7, 8 and 9. This letter contains information regarding what will be expected of your child in order to obtain the best experience possible.

The cost per pupil for the state competition is $195.00, based on quad occupancy at the hotel. This figure includes registration to the conference, hotel charges and food for the entire weekend.

On Saturday, March 7, students will arrive at B-P dressed in their professional attire* at 8:30 a.m. The bus will take us to the Sheraton Tara in Framingham. The students are encouraged to pack a lunch for Saturday, as it is the only meal that is not provided during the conference. We will begin competing at the hotel shortly after our arrival. Students will be participating in contests as well as attending seminars and leadership workshops held in various locations throughout the hotel. Saturday evening all of the conference attendees will remain at the hotel, participate in a formal dinner, will enjoy a guest speaker and opening ceremonies and then will choose to attend a dance or participate in games in a designated, chaperoned game room. Curfew will be at 11:30 p.m.

Sunday morning the students will wake early. All students will board school buses and head to Assabet Valley Vocational School for breakfast and begin competing at the school. Students will remain at school until about 3:00 p.m. at which time the kids will return to the hotel, change into casual clothing and try their hand at informal, fun competitive events such as karaoke, Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band and other fun activities.

Monday morning we will have an awards brunch at the hotel. It is during this ceremony when students find out if their hard work paid off! Students will know at this time whether or not they are eligible to attend nationals which are in Dallas, Texas May 5 - 11! I’m very proud of how hard all the students have been working in order to compete at the state conference.

This year we have 24 students participating in the state conference. My wonderful colleague, Mrs. Powers, will be accompanying us and will act as another set of eyes and ears for our students. The ratio of 12/1 is very manageable! Your child may bring over the counter medicine as well as any prescription medications with them. Please instruct them how to take their medications appropriately, or if you prefer, you may give me the medication and I will see to it that they take the proper dosage. If you wish to contact me during the weekend, send me an email and I'd be happy to provide you with my cell phone number.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please email me at mrssylvia1010 at yahoo.com or phone 508-823-5151 x 204. A hard copy of this notice has been emailed to your son/daughter with a notation regarding appropriate dress code.

Deadlines and Commitments!

March always seems to come up so quickly, doesn't it? I figured I'd post some reminders for all of you.

We have a meeting this Monday, February 9. At the meeting I will be giving out all of the forms for our state competition. You will be drowning in paperwork! These forms will need to be signed and returned by Thursday the 12th. I have a meeting on our schedule for the 12th, but at this point I think it's just for those who need to come and work on their projects. Remember - anything judged has to be done by the end of next week, (February 13!)

Start thinking about your dress code. Of special note is the girls' attire. Girls may wear pants, but if you do, you MUST have a jacket to wear. Naturally a pant suit would be best as they coordinate perfectly. But if you don't have a jacket, that's okay - you just have to wear a skirt. You can wear a skirt with a sweater or blouse. So - to sum up....Jacket and Pants OR Skirt and sweater/blouse.

For the gents - dress pants and a button dress shirt with a tie would be most appropriate. If you have a suit or a jacket, by all means wear it. Regardless - you must have a tie.



(Thought I'd put a cool pic of your vice president!)

Speaking of cool, don't forget that there are very cool contests! You can win money towards your national trip. Design the state pin, write an essay, or design the cover of the program booklet for states. More information can be found by going to the Massachusetts BPA site. You'll see a box in the middle of the page that will give you more information. Check it out!

Any whoooooo - get going on your projects, be thinking about the money oh and your roommates! Remember - 4 people to a room. I'll be asking for room assignments Monday. We have four girls' rooms and three boys' rooms. (and one Advisor room! I'm almost afraid to room with KP after Reno, but I'll give it another whirl.)

We're connected!

Okay - absolutely no one can say that BPA at Bristol-Plymouth is not hip and cool. Not only do we have our own Facebook profile, but we have a Youtube too! And who could forget this blog?

For the Facebook, I tried to add as many current and past BPA members through the friend finder. If you know of someone who was in BPA and doesn't show in the friend list, let me know and we'll get a friend request going on! My plans for the youtube channel is to post our videos. It'll be a place where people can come back year after year. Cool stuff, huh?