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 have arrived...

Wow. As February comes to a close, it means that states is just a short couple of weeks away. Many students who are competing in a judged event have their deadlines today. I've seen one Global Marketing project out of two. I've seen one Entrepreneurship project out of two. (That's because he's my son!) I have yet to see 1 Global, 1 Entrepreneurship, and 1 Graphic Design Promotion. But hopefully by the end of the day, they'll be in my in-box so I can email them to the proper judges.

So with registration occurring last week, it seems we're taking about 30 students to the state competition this year. It's a smaller group than in the past, but I'm happy that it will be a manageable size. Mrs. Powers is officially registered as an assistant BPA Advisor and will be going with us this year. Boy is she in for a ride! I haven't told her that she can't go to bed before 3 a.m. - so don't any of you tell her! I think that because she has three small children, she thinks that getting away for a couple of nights and sleeping in a hotel will afford her much needed rest. HAH! shhhhhhh.....

Well good luck to the remaining students who have to meed their deadline today. Please, come through! Not for me, but for a chance to see New York City. Oh, Jessie just told me yesterday that Barack Obama will be the guest speaker at nationals! That's exciting - there will be Secret Service Agents all over the place. :) Good luck everyone!

Ramen Noodles Overload

When we go to our state competition, we will make sure you eat. That being said, however, we don't provide snack food in the manner in which teens like to snack! So I always suggest that roommates get together and plan who will bring what type of snack food. This event should be BPA's next judged event! I can't tell you how much time and effort the students put into the snack and junk food they're bringing. When they show up to get on the bus, they have a suitcase with clothing and a bigger suitcase with food, bottled water, gatorade and soda. Some people have brought coolers.

If I were judging the event, I'd probably look at the organization. Did you pack the bananas with the Gatorade? Not a good mix. Points off for that. Did you bring a cooler that didn't leak? Good job. But most of all, I'd check to see how well you guaged how much food you'd eat. Because at the end of the weekend, people are so sick of gummy worms that they leave all of their junk food behind and board the bus looking a little green. Those who left with no food planned accordingly and would get the most points. Those who leave drawers full of food and beverage would score the least points.

My advice to you is this. Since there will probably be four people in your room, plan for that. Don't bring more than four normal people eat! Have you ever heard the phrase, "My eyes were bigger than my stomach"? I suggest you not waste your money buying food that you're going to leave behind. If I kept all the food that my students left behind at conferences, we could have fed a small country for a month.