Wow, it was only five years ago that FBLA was introduced to students at Cove High School, and our chapter was formed with Ms. Sophie Pettit as our first Chapter President, and it has taken off ever since! In the relatively short time, we have doubled our membership, competed at the National Convention in San Antonio, the State Convention in Portland, and the District IV Regionals in La Grande. Chapter members have worked hard every year to make a difference in our community and have provided a variety of activities for our school, our teams, and our community. This year, under the direction of President Collin Rovey and his officer team of five, the Cove FBLA chapter has doubled its membership again and has taken on many new service and fund-raising projects. We are super excited to have seven freshmen join our chapter this year, with Ms. Gracie Tucker becoming our first Executive Vice President of Communication. We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us in our efforts to serve our community and represent our high school in competitions. Without your support, we would not be as successful in our mission of service, education, and progress.
As I reflect back on this fall, I have to be proud of what the members of the Cove FBLA Chapter were able to accomplish. One of their most visible activities that FBLA is involved in at the school is their Cove Snack Shack. The Snack Shack provides food and snacks for most of our middle school and high school games as well as other school functions. It provides our students, not just chapter members, opportunities to learn how a business runs. Our members are in charge of inventorying our food and supplies, providing a list of needed items to our purchasing agent, running the cash register, learning customer and retail skills, cooking and making food, and learning how to make Italian sodas. They are currently working on a business plan to add a coffee shop to the Snack Shack which we hope to open at games and at other times during the school day. Stay tuned, if we are able, we hope to get it up and running by January.
Our treasurer, Mr. Tanner Rovey, is in charge of counting all proceeds from the Snack Shack as well as other charity and fund-raising events. He tracks both incoming and outgoing funds, writes receipts, purchase orders, and is now learning how to manage the chapter's finances and budget on spreadsheets. This fall, the Snack Shack provided food and treats for over twenty activities not including the Booster Club running it for their Mt. Fanny Invitational High School Basketball Tournament and their Cove Classic Middle School Basketball Tournament. We are proud of how this business has improved over the years, and are always seeking advice on how we can better serve our customers.
Our officer team was excited to have our chapter organize three charity events this fall. They understand that giving back is an essential part of any successful business as well as rewarding individually. Our chapter baked, decorated, and sold sugar cookies to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This foundation strives to find a cure for breast cancer. We raised $60 for their cause. On Veteran’s Day, our chapter hosted the first ever Stars and Stripes Dodgeball Tournament and silent auction. All proceeds from this event went to the Wounded Warrior Project and we were able to donate $514.14 to this amazing organization. Our chapter paid all the expenses to put on the tournament out of our chapter funds. This is definitely something we want to make an annual event with hopes that it will grow bigger every year. This year, we had over sixty participants and everyone seemed to have a great time. At the end, we had a free-for-all where audience members joined one final match. Not perfect for sure, but super fun!!! The final event we planned was our annual food drive for the Cove food bank. In December, we were able to collect over 500 food items for this worthy cause. A big shout out to our elementary students who gave so much again this year.
Not that the Snack Shack and charity work doesn’t keep our members plenty busy, they also organized five hamburger feeds, participated in the Booster Club’s Trunk or Treat event, hosted a Christmas party/game night for their fellow high school students, sold candy grams, went to the Career Technical Student Organizations Fall Leadership Conference, and worked on our yearly flamingo project. They are also one of five chapters in the state of Oregon who is still in the running for becoming a Gold Champion Chapter, something we’ve never aspired to before, but we thought we should give it a try this year. The chapter has already been awarded the Shaping Success and CTE Celebration Certificates for all their work, and we hope to be awarded the Service Season Award at the end of December. Wish them luck when you see a member.
FBLA meets at lunch every other Wednesday, and we try to have guest speakers from the business community come in and speak to us once a month. We would like to invite all students to join FBLA. We want you to know how valuable and fun FBLA can truly be. It is a great way to get involved in your school while learning skills, building your resume, and helping out your community. As the FBLA advisor, I could not be more proud of these awesome students, and I look forward to what is in store for them during the second half of the school year.