CT DECA 60th Anniversary!With manuals being typed, role plays being rehearsed, and CT DECA chapters registering for competition, the time of the annual CT DECA SCDC is in the air. And this year, CT DECA, will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the CT State Career Development Conference at the Aquaturf in Southington. On February 29th, a significant day to begin with, over a thousand CT DECA members will be showing up at the AquaTurf along side with advisors, judges, sponsors, and your 2011-2012 State Executive Council, to celebrate the 60th anniversary for CT DECA. So come and join your State Officers and celebrate a huge milestone in the CT DECA history!

The state officers would like to showcase one of our chapters that has been very active this year for the benefit of their community. Once again, this year finds Danbury DECA being the epitome of excellence!DECA’s goal for the 2011-2012 school year is to Aspire Higher and Danbury DECA certainly heard the call! The chapter strove to get more members and easily broke the 100 member mark. They alsoAspired Higher for charity. Not only are they currently holding a raffle for an Ipad 2 to raise money for homeless veterans in CT, but they have already done more for the veterans of our great state! Through fundraisers, Danbury DECA has raised $1,500 for homeless veterans, and then held a school wide assembly to present the check to the

Female Forgotten Heroes’ House in Norwalk. The students created over a hundred wreaths in memory of fallen veterans in Connecticut and sent out over 1,000 greeting cards for the “Holidays for Heroes” project. This project is sponsored by the American Red Cross and collects holiday greeting cards for servicemen/women stationed in the States and overseas. The Danbury DECA Chapter even took time out of their holiday vacation to attend “First Night” in Danbury on New Year’s Eve to raise awareness for the homeless veterans in CT! Great job Danbury DECA, keep working hard!

Chapter Spotlight!By Ashley Neal

Officer-At-Large

FALL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCEThe successful Fall Leadership Conference was held on December 2nd, 2011, at the Aqua turf, in Southington, CT Page 2

THE MOVEMENT Testing the community service techniques of all DECA members in the country. CT DECA members are tested to raise over 4,000$ for MDA. Page 4

NORTH ATLANTIC REGION VP Emily Socha is the CT DECA potential NARVP

Candidate. Read an Article about her running

this year at ICDC! Page 6

CONNECTICUT DECACT DECA DIMENSIONS ISSUE NO. 1

WINTER NEWSLETTER

Fall Leadership Conference: Changing CT Members to CT Leaders.

By Shani RobinsonReporter

• • •

Each year ,the Fall LeadershipConference gives DECA members anopportunity to meet new people,build leadership skills, and explorestrengths in team exercises. InConnecticut DECA’s 60th year, we once again were able to hold our FallLeadership Conference at the AquaTurf in Southington. Students were given the opportunityto go to various workshops thatprovided motivation, producedteamwork, and encouragedconquering any type of challenge byusing everyday skills. The State officers also hosted a workshop for select students entitled“Don’t waste your time” whichfeatured a list of tasks that groupsneeded to complete to eithershowcase their skills in timemanagement or quickly learn andadapt to be able to achieve good timemanagement. Through thisassessment, we saw that teams were

able to get over the initial shynessand come together to be effective incompleting the daunting list of tasks.Lastly, Connecticut DECA crowned the winner of our annual scavengerhunt with an additional two finalistswho exhibited excellentperformances as well. Masuk DECAtook home the first prize trophy whileTrumbull DECA and WethersfieldDECA received an award for their

adequate completion of the ScavengerHunt. Every DECA member should have the opportunity to enjoy the FallLeadership Conference. It’s a greatway for new members and old tocome together and kickoff another year in DECA.

THANK YOU SIMPLY K STUDIOS FOR THE AMAZING PICS!!

FUN MOMENTS

AHH! Don’t Choke Him!! Nicholas DiNardo, CT DECA State VP, gets a tie “tied” around his neck, during the CT DECA State Officers, “Don’t Waste Your Time” seminar.

1...2...3...4!!! Connecticut DECA members work as a team, trying to complete a number puzzle, during the Team Work Seminar.

By Kelsey Brennan

President

• • •

Sky high pumps and patterned mini skirts look awesome on Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, but this scandalous garb is not quite as tasteful in the context of a DECA Conference, where professionalism and modesty are an expectation, not an option. This years Fall Conference demonstrated a forgotten sense of respect when it comes to appropriate business attire. Let’s be honest, girls- cleavage is not classy. Miniskirts are not modest. Five inch heels are not humble. The generally accepted skirt length for a business environment is 2 inches above the knee. Heels shouldn’t be higher than 3 inches. These are not the kind of numbers we have seen at conferences in the past.

We don’t want to project a trashy image for Connecticut DECA. We aren’t trashy. We are Connecticut and we’re as classy as it gets! This is the image we want to project at ICDC this year. So the morning of the next conference, as we face our closets indecisively, let us keep in mind the words of Coco Chanel, “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous”.

Guys:you aren’t quite off the hook. Male students should wear dress pants, blazers, shirts, ties and dress shoes. Jeans, shorts and polos are not permitted. This is your chance to experience business etiquette in a student environment so that you will be prepared for the real world. Wearing professional attire indicates confidence and maturity - and above all, it’s a perfect opportunity to look snazzy for the ladies.

Keep it “Classy” at Conferences

1. Blazers

2. Slacks

3. Knee-Length Skirts

4. 3-Inch Heels

5. Dress Shoes

6. Button Down Shirt

7. Button Down Blouse

8. Tie

9. Black Socks

10. Plain-Un-patterned Tights

DO’S DON’T’S

The Movement

THE MOVEMENT: RAISING THE BAR FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE.

By Nicholas DiNardoVice-President

• • • This year, your CT DECA State Officer team made the National DECA MDA challenge, entitled “The Movement ”, part of their Program of Work. This challenge was given to the 2011-2012 National Officer Team by Jay Koontz, a former Oklahoma State Officer. The Movement challenges all DECA members to raise the bar for fundraising skills and to Aspire Higher so that DECA can be recognized as a “lean, mean, fundraising machine”. The main goal of “The Movement” is to raise $100,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in one year! One way to reach this goal is by getting 25 individual states to get eight of their chapters to raise $500 more than the year before. Your 2011-2012 Connecticut DECA State Officer team knew that the members of CT DECA could easily reach this goal. At present, there are ten chapters that have already committed to “The Movement” for our state! However, since this is Connecticut DECA, and the DECA theme for this year is to “Aspire Higher”, your state officers know that the members of CT DECA could surpass our initial goal and we could have even more chapters join us! The deadline to send in the money for MDA is March 15th,

2012, and chapters will receive a “The Movement Toolkit” by contacting any of the state officers. Jenn Harington, the 2011-2012 North Atlantic Region Vice-President, was one of the first DECA members to learn about this wonderful goal for DECA.

THE FACTS

25States

8Chapters

500Dollars

100,000$

INTERVIEW WITH JENN

HARRINGTON.

We had a chance to interview Jenn concerning “The Movement” and here is what she had to say: Q: Why did your national officer team decide to pick up “The Movement” up in your POW?

A: Jay got in touch with Micah Melling, CRVP, and Micah presented the idea to us at summer training. After talking to Micah and even to Jay, we thought that “The Movement” would be a great way to help MDA even more. This year is all about “Aspiring Higher” and this is one way to do that. MDA supports DECA in many ways and we want to support them even more!

Q: Why is raising money for MDA so important for being a DECA member?

A: Raising money in itself is not important; it is where the money goes and what the money can do for members of MDA. With our support, financially and emotionally, we can give members of MDA a life much like our own where they can work and live on their own. That was something that wasn't possible not too long ago.

Q: With “The Movement” in mind, how does being a DECA member reach a life of someone who has this horrible disease?

A: As a DECA member you have direct access to our partnership with MDA. We encourage you to contribute financially, yes, but also by volunteering at summer camps, etc. People who are diagnosed with muscle disorders know about DECA members and all that they do and

Q: What do hope for “The Movement”, after you give your term in office expires?

A: I hope that “The Movement” is even stronger next year. I hope we go above and beyond all our goals and that “The Movement” is something we see in DECA for a long time to come!

Obviously, Jenn is an aspired DECA member, who will always put her time into MDA, the DECA Association, and DECA members. So the challenge is given to you, the Connecticut DECA members. You have the tools to show what Connecticut DECA has to offer to the greater DECA family when we attend the International Career Development Conference 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We know you will do great for CT DECA and MDA. And we know that you will never stop “Aspiring Higher”.

Salt Lake City, Here We Come!ABOUT SLC

Location: Utah

City: Salt Lake City

Population: 181,743

Hotel: Courtyard Downtown

DECA INTERNATIONAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE 2012 Can you feel the excitement building in the air as your DECA Chapter begins its quest to travel to this year’s ICDC? DECA’s 2012 International Career Development Conference will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah from April 28th to May 1st. The 2012 ICDC should be the best ever; from the keen competition, the very productive and informative workshops to the great entertainment and activities which will always keep you occupied. Ask your advisor about the Senior Management Institute or the Leadership Development Academy and how you could find yourself in one of these mind- boggling workshops. The ICDC is a great way to expand your network with people, fellow students who you might become friends with for a lifetime. All the time you are there, you are learning how to improve yourself and become a better team member with your colleagues. From workshops by day and fun entertainment by night, ICDC is a great learning experience and a lot of fun too.

There are so many varied activities that you can be a part of in Salt Lake City and all that it takes to get their is to compete in Connecticut DECA’s state competition and place in one of the top three spots in over 50 competitive events. If you think that you will not be able to achieve that goal, think again. There are many resources provided to you through your marketing teachers and through DECA. Competing in ICDC is as much a learning experience as it is competition. It is virtually impossible to compete at the International Conference, attend workshops, network with new people and not learn anything new. You can learn and have a fun time doing it! All it takes is a little sacrifice of time and effort on your part and a desire to “Aspire Higher”. See you in Salt Lake City.

NUMBERSDECA MEMBERS

15KDECA States and

Provinces

52DECA FUN!

∞

By Emily SochaHistorian

• • •“Hi Everyone! I hope you had a fantastic time at this year’s Fall Leadership Conference! I really appreciated your support when Destiny Sanchez from Southington High School made a motion to approve my candidacy to run for the North Atlantic Region Vice President of DECA. It means a lot that I have Connecticut DECA’s support with me on this journey! The past four years I’ve been involved with DECA and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many great members at the Fall Conferences, NARCON, State Conferences and you guys really make this organization happen! One of the reasons I want to become the next NARVP is so I can stay more in touch with you, the members. I’d like get to know you, stay in touch, and do all I can to help. Being a state officer now has allowed me to help some of the CT chapters and I’d love

to do this for the North Atlantic Region. Currently I’m creating my platform, seeking financial sponsorships, studying DECA facts, and working on my public speaking skills to impress the voting delegates at ICDC this coming May. I have passion for the DECA organization and I encourage everyone to take advantage of all that DECA has to offer. Leadership conferences, travel opportunities, community service projects, and just being with people that share a common interest. I hope that your DECA projects and role-plays are going well---keep up the hard work and I hope to see you on the stage at States and advancing to Nationals! Remember, go for your dreams and never give up!

Emily M. Socha

Emily Socha: Potential NARVP Candidate

FROM THE CT STATE OFFICER TEAMEmily, we are fully behind you with your decision to run for NARVP. We know you will go far, and we wish you the best of luck! You were an excellent addition to our team, and we know you will be an excellent addition to the National Officer Team!Always here and proud,

Kelsey, Nick, Cristina, Aj, Shani, Ashley, and Mr. Leete