Go Green FLC

Hello Wisconsin DECA!

It's with great excitement that I am writing to all of you today. I have some new and great news regarding Fall Leadership Conference, as well as some cool ways that you can begin to get active within your chapter.

Fall Leadership Conference

To start I just want to say that I am so excited for Fall Leadership Conference being held at the Chula Vista Resort in the Wisconsin Dells! It will be an amazing experience, allowing all of us to grow as members of Wisconsin DECA.

Now to the real business, regarding the T-Shirt contest for Go Green we will be having chapters create their design for the Go Green contest prior to the conference. Upon arrival we will have each chapter present their designs. These will then be voted on in preliminary stages, and the winner will have their designs printed on our Go Green T-Shirts! The winners will also receive T-Shirts for their chapter. And as all of you know the money will be supporting MDA!

Also, make sure you look to attend the Go Green Workshop during your attendance at FLC it's sure to contain some really great tips, as well as giving your chapter an edge on new ways to Go Green!

Go Green Ideas

Now there are numerous categories that you and your chapter can delve into this year. As for right now I will be providing a sneak peak of a few water conservation tips that your chapter can use. The rest of the water conservation tips as well as numerous other categories will be talked about at the Fall Leadership Conference in the Go Green Workshop! Everyone better be attending!

This sneak peak will contain water conservation tips pertaining to no cost, low cost, and significant investment. All of these are beneficial, but provide greater impacts as cost and participation increases. So remember don't settle for less, always do the best you can!

Free

• Encourage maintenance staff to avoid using hoses or pressure washers to clean sidewalks and other paved areas
• Encourage your school's cafeteria staff to avoid using trays when possible. Fewer items to wash means less water used to wash them!
• Use gray water (Pre-used water that can be recycled for other uses) to water lawns and athletic fields

Low Cost

• Apply mulch around flower beds. Mulch will improve soil moisture retention and reduce weeds
• Replace leaking faucets
• Take students on a field trip to water/waste water utility center in your area

Significant Investment

• Install rain barrels or rain gardens. Rain barrels and rain gardens reduce surface water runoff and increase soil retention
• Install timers and moisture sensors on irrigation equipment used on school grounds
• switch toilets and sinks to automatics sensors

These tips will definitely help your chapter to get started on your way to going green! Also always remember, if you have your own idea, go for it! Don't be afraid to pursue your ideas; chapters around the state may look to follow your lead.

Remember to follow these tips and always continue to Go Green. Thank you for taking the time to read this, you stay classy Wisconsin DECA!

Online Forms Update

 Online Forms

Hey guys, although they haven't been published yet, I just kinda wanted to bring you all up to speed on what our online forms for community service recognition are going to look like. I first would like to tell you all that I am very excited with what we have added and that it's going to allow us to be able to recognize you better as well as allow other chapters to connect with new ideas.

The Basics

The basics as you all probably know will just contain your school, advisor, participants, activity, what category of community service this is under, blah blah blah. You all know the routine. It's pretty basic.

What's New

Here is where all the exciting and fun things come into play. This year we are asking chapters to take a picture while you are performing your activity and send it with your form. This will allow us to visually recognize you through our social media sites and allow other chapters to get ideas as well as to see your amazing success. Another cool feature that we will offer is an optional video post where we will allow chapters to post a link of a video allowing us to showcase your chapter even more! Also we will be asking you to recognize one individual that really stuck out during this activity, maybe it was their idea, maybe they were the backbone of the operation, or maybe they just seemed to get the most out of the experience. Either way with this nomination this chapter member will be put into consideration for Member of the Month! Allowing them to be individually recognized state wide! This will allow individuals to be truly recognized for their efforts and allow them to really continue to strive to be the best they can be.

Deadline

With this deadline we are strongly encouraging chapters to email their online forms in to me so that we cut down on paper and continue to go green. This year we are asking chapters to really try and email their forms in within two weeks of completing their activity. This will allow us to recognize individuals for Member of the Month as well as allow us to share your ideas with the rest of DECA helping to get others active. 

Well that's all for now Wisconsin DECA I just thought I'd throw you a brief update on whats going on. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me I would love to help. Also I will be posting another blog shortly once the form is posted with a link and everything.

You Stay Classy Wisconsin DECA,

Connor Norris

Vice President of Community Service

Connor.Norris47@gmail.com

DECA Goes Green

Have you ever really stepped back and wondered how the world would function if we ran out of natural resources? How life would be altered if we didn't have the means to create products that we use everyday? Have you ever thought how the waste of such materials as plastics, oil, and indecomposable materials effect the earth everyday? 

The lack of conservation is all around us, for example did you know that the U.S. alone generates a daily amount of garbage to equal the weight of the Empire State Building? Or did you know that 1 in 4 mammals in the world are near extinction due to pollution? Or how about that the world cuts down fifty million of acres of rain forest every year? Did you know that one either? Chances are no.. Just look around you, the indications are everywhere. The sad thing is that its only getting worse every year. Efforts all around the world are starting to be put into action, and the rise of going green and conserving our planet is becoming a more pressing issue every day. This basically comes down to one thing and one thing only, and that is what can you do to make your community and school a better place to live in?

That is why you're in luck, this year Wisconsin DECA is taking action. This year we are going to focus on this pressing matter to decrease our carbon footprint and make Wisconsin a better educated state in go green efforts and the benefits that it will bring. The only problem is we can't do this alone, for this to be successful we're going to need YOUR help!

We are asking chapters throughout Wisconsin this year to look for ideas to help decrease their carbon footprint. Even the smallest efforts will make a difference to the environment. Here are some ideas that can get you started and on your way to a better school environment:

• Create a school garden
• Create a compost in your school garden
• Create a recycling program
• Install energy efficient light bulbs throughout classrooms
• Adopt a highway or road 

As you can see through these few ideas, that even the smallest efforts can truly add up if you work at it enough. This year Wisconsin DECA wants to recognize those schools that go above and beyond and truly work to make their school an environmentally friendly place.

Also this year we are looking to host a T-Shirt competition that will allow students to submit their designs for a contest. These designs will then be voted upon and the winners design will be printed on 100% recycled material T-Shirts. These profits will then be donated to MDA! I know you're probably wondering, "This can't get any better?!?" well you're wrong. The winner of the contest will also receive free T-Shirts for his/her chapter! Now that's a pretty good deal if I don't say so myself. 

Well that is all for now more information will be coming out very soon regarding the T-Shirt contest, and more ideas on going green within your school will also be posted. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Thanks for reading Wisconsin DECA and I hope you have a good day.

Connor Norris

Vice President of Community Service

Connor.Norris47@gmail.com

Extreme Makeover Community Service Edition

MOVE THAT BUS!

As you glance from the logo to the header, you begin to envision Ty Pennington, TV personality of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, yelling at the top of his lungs to move that enormous coach bus blocking the view of the beautiful house that his team and the community has built for a family in dire need of relief. Suddenly you see the families reaction, the jumping, the screaming, the tears, and the hugs. “Our show proves that some pretty incredible things can happen when people come together.” Says Pennington, and after seven days of hard nonstop work, this one moment is what makes it all worth while.

Let's Get Started!

Hello once again my fellow DECA members! I'm writing to all of you today to bring both bad news and good news. I will start with the bad news first.. I am sad to announce that Ty Pennington will not be joining Wisconsin DECA this year on our journey to increase and better the community service aspect of this wonderful organization. I know this is very shocking and heart breaking, but we mustn't dwell to long. On a brighter note I am proud to announce that the position of Ty Pennington will be replaced by all of you. What I am trying to say is that now is the time to get active! Take the initiative! Now is the time to take community service to the next level! This is your chance to THRIVE to better your community and the lives of those in need.

Now it seems that there are the same common recurring questions that are always asked from year to year that keep people away from community service, such as:

• How can I get active?
• Where should I start?
• What can I do?

Yes this proves to be the same vague question rephrased over and over, but have no fear this is where my handy dandy blog spot comes in to play!

I am excited to inform you all of the new changes we have made to the area of community service! I will start with the basics and work my way out into the more specifics as this post goes on.

So as you know Wisconsin DECA's Community Service area is broken down into four sections:

• MDA
• Acts of Kindness Program
• 100 Hours Program
• General Charities

Among these sections are the four areas in which you can look to pursue, or if you are a true die hard DECA lover this is where you have to decide which section you are going to accomplish first.

Now there are a few changes that we have made this year to ensure proper recognition will be given to each chapter for their hard work. This year we will create a universal online document for all four areas. This method will ensure efficiency, and will help to conserve paper as Wisconsin DECA looks to Go Green. With this form some of the key aspects that must be provided are:

• An explanation of what you did 
• How this act benefited your community
• And a picture of your chapter at work

With this we wish to not only recognize your chapter upon submission but we wish to share it throughout the DECA community. This will allow other chapters to see the great work your chapter has accomplished as well as to see some great ideas that they can look to pursue. Overall with this process we are looking to help educate the DECA community, in hopes that other chapters will begin to get involved in community service.

Now onto the part that I know all of you look forward to... AWARDS!
This year we have something really special to offer that I am sure all of you will be excited for. This year Wisconsin DECA will look to award the top three chapters in each category of community service, but wait thats not the best part! Upon placing in the top three of any of the four categories chapters will be given the opportunity to send one of their students to The Leadership Development Academy in Anaheim California!

So as you can see this is the time to get active! Take a stand and help your community!

If you have any further questions you can email me at connor.norris47@gmail.com

Well thats all for now Wisconsin DECA.
Until next time,
Connor Norris

The Beginning

Welcome To The Beginning!

Welcome DECA members!

 My name is Connor Norris and I am proud to announce that this will be the official blog spot for Wisconsin DECA's Community Service activity! 


This will be your unlimited resource throughout the year for:

• Up to date information
• Upcoming activities
• Upcoming contests
• New innovative ideas

There are so many changes this year that I am excited to announce, as well as displaying our new award system that I am sure all of you will be excited about! This information and much more will be available in the next two additions to Wisconsin DECA's Community Service Blog.

Thank you all for reading!

Sincerely, 

Connor Norris

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." -John Wooden