A Year in Review
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PENNSYLVANIA FBLA NEWSLETTER The Penn Pal VOLUME XXX, ISSUE IV M A R C H 2 0 1 5 2014-2015 State Officer Team I N S I D E THIS ISSUE: Officer 2 Farewells Morgan Stahr– 9 A Year in Review- Former PA FBLA President Dear Pennsylvania FBLA, Rachel Walter– 10 I would first and foremost like to thank each chapter that submitted an article to the Penn Pal! Former PA FBLA You have inspired other chapters and have “Stepped Up to the Challenge” of becoming business Reporter leaders in your community. Secondly, I would like to wish each PA FBLA chapter success in the future as its members strive to become responsible business leaders. It has been a wonderful year Chapter 11 Spotlights in FBLA and I feel priviledged to have shared in your successes, competitions, community service events, and other activities. Thank you for your cooperation and for your willingness to share Tom McGarrigle– 15 your stories with the PA FBLA community. Pennsylvania Entrepreneur Sincerely, Alison Moore Lynda Resnick– 16 Pennsylvania PA FBLA State Reporter Entrepreneur Chapter 18 Spotlights Editor’s Note: There were two discrepancies in the Fall Edition (Edition II). First, on page 4, the photo credits at the bottom of the page were missing the second source, www.linkedin.com. Secondly, on page P A G E 1 10, the caption for the photo was missing the word “Commerce” as the last word of the caption. I apolo- gize for the discrepancies. 2014-2015 State Officer Farewells Sam Kessler—President y past four years with PA FBLA have been the most formative and incredible years of my life. I’ve traveled the country, spoken in front of thousands of students, and befriended some of the best people that I’ve ever met. Although this is technically my “farewell,” I am not saying goodbye to FBLA. The skills that I have gained Mthrough this organization will never leave me, and they will be the springboard upon which I progress in life. Additionally, my time as a student in FBLA has only marked the beginning of what I know will be life-long friendships. Of course, I would not have gained anything from FBLA if it weren’t for the incredible students and mentors who accompanied me over the past two years as an officer and four years as a student at Wissahickon High School. First, to the PA FBLA team: Mr. Boncal: Without your leadership, PA FBLA could not function, let alone grow to become one of the largest and most successful state chapters in National FBLA history. PA FBLA has been successful because of your unmatched dedication to the students of this organization. When I go on to my own professional life, I hope I can develop the same qualities of leadership and goodwill that you exhibit each day as our Executive Director. Mrs. Skiles: Although much of your work is done behind the scenes, those of us who know you are well-aware of the incredible work that you do. You have been such a pleasure to work with, and your poise, attention to detail, and work-ethic have ensured that PA FBLA conferences run without a hitch and are the most fun out of all the states. Mr. Skerpon: Your passion for FBLA is absolutely unparalleled. As a former State President yourself, you bring such a unique perspective to the PA FBLA leadership team, and I can only hope that I can maintain my relationship with FBLA as well as you have. Miss Ryland: You have helped me to develop a sense of leadership and responsibility that I could not have gained anywhere else. I have gotten to know you well over the past couple of years, and I have no idea how you managed to deal with me for all that time! Your commitment to FBLA, your students, and your officers inspires me every day, and I am so thankful to have had you as my state adviser. To my officer team: It has been an incredible honor working with each of you this year. Without you, my national campaign could never have been a success, and I don’t know how I could ever thank you for all of the time and energy that you dedicated to me in Nashville. I know I made some life-long friends this year, and I can’t wait to watch you all succeed in your futures. Continued on the next page. P A G E 2 2014-2015 State Officer Farewells Sam Kessler—President Continued from the previous page. And to my local advisors: Where would I be without the two of you? Mrs. Kern: I really don’t know how you do it. Although you were raising a young daughter throughout my time with our local chapter, you never seemed stressed, and you dedicated an incredible amount of time and energy to your other “family,” your Wissahickon FBLA family. The amount of new paperwork that we had to sort through after you left for maternity leave just goes to show how much work you do for our chapter, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all that you have done for me over the years. Mrs. Mulroy: It is impossible to express how thankful I am to you for these past four years. You are the person who encouraged me to be involved in FBLA, who supported me as I ran for state and national office, and who spent hours in cars and planes with me as we traveled to various conferences and meetings. Your passion and selflessness are evident in everything that you do, and you have had an immeasurable impact on my life, and on the lives of so many other Wissahickon FBLA students. Of course, I would be remiss if I did not thank Mrs. Westerlund. You are one of the kindest people I have ever met, and although I am not your student, I cannot thank you enough for all of the help and support you gave me this year. When I joined FBLA at the start of my freshman year, I never could have imagined the impact that it would have on my life. Thank you to all of the friends and mentors who made this journey possible. I will certainly miss my time as a student in this organization, but I look forward to seeing what the future holds not only for me, but for PA FBLA, and the over 13,000 students I served as State President. Pictured below (left to right): Alison Moore, Reporter; Ms. Kristi Ryland, State Adviser; Maria Hudock, First Vice President; and Sam Kessler, President. Pictured above: the 2013-2014 National Officer Team standing beside the newly elected officers at the Closing Session. P A G E 3 2014-2015 State Officer Farewells Maria Hudock—First Vice President aybe FBLA has really changed your life; maybe it hasn’t. Whatever FBLA means to you, I hope you continue to be involved and experience more in the organization because, no kidding, it really does have life-changing potential. As I conclude my senior year, let M me tell you what FBLA means to me. FBLA means exploration – new locales with each traveling adventure, and new subject areas for study. It means learning new skills and being absolutely terrified to try them out. It means wearing heels often and, consequently, carrying Band-Aids a lot. It never means sleep, unless followed by the words “you wish.” FBLA means a chance to grow, and most importantly, it means people. The people I’ve met, especially this past year as a state officer, are by far the most wonderful asset to our organization. The state management team – Miss Ryland, Mr. Skerpon, Mrs. Skiles, and Mr. Boncal – are four people whom I revere. They are all incredibly hardworking, approachable, and know exactly how to show you how to grow. If you have the chance to meet them, never pass up the opportunity. But let’s talk about a group of people you’re more familiar with: the members. It has blown my mind to meet members from across PA (and the country) and see what you do: from producing incredible films and presentations, to starting your own mini companies, to performing some awesome card tricks, to modeling edgy styles, to making people roll on the floor laughing. I have to especially mention Sam, Alison, Alyssa, Madison, Kim, Grace, and Justin; you all inspire me on a profound level, and a large part of what I’ve gained in PA FBLA is simply witnessing the incredible people I worked with. One of my favorite people ever (cough, she was quite a “stellar” person) once referred to the “FBLA gods” when listing some truly accomplished people who inspired her. I think in a way that’s similar to all of us – we all rule our own little specialty corners of the PA FBLA universe. So my parting message would have to be this – PLEASE go out and explore that universe. There are some unbelievable people out there who can teach you more than you’d ever think – oh yeah, and they prove to be some superhuman friends. Thanks for an awesome year, PA FBLA. I hope that what I’ve done this year can make a small imprint on this organization, because FBLA has made an indelible one on me. Best of luck to all you outstanding people in everything you pursue - you’re going to blow the world away with what you can do.