School's out! It's time to relax, go to the pool, sleep a lot... These guys wish they could do all those things, but no. They are working hard making preparations for another great year at the preeminent River Hill FBLA. So meet your new FBLA officers!

Sam Storey - Project Manager (left)
Nik Sinha - Public Relations Officer
Scott Salopek - Vice President
Irene Chen - Reporter
Pratik Dixit - Parliamentarian
Lissa Murakami - President
Matt Moore - Secretary
Brooks Gabel - Historian
Kevin Shankar - Treasurer
Vir Mirchandani (front right) - Vice President

The 2008-2009 River Hill FBLA Chapter Officer Elections will take place on May 28, 2008 in Ms. Waters' room (room 142) at 2:30 p.m. Official election packages and applications will be released shortly. The application and a copy of your resume must be submitted to Ms. Waters by no later than May 22, 2008 (only for potential candidates). Please take note that all candidates must be dressed in professional business attire and must prepare a two-minute speech addressing why you feel you are qualified for an officer position and what you wish to accomplish as an officer for the next school year. Please be prepared for a Q&A session at the conclusion of your speech. Any FBLA member can attend the election session, however you must remain for the duration of the session, otherwise your vote(s) will be automatically disqualified. Several notable alumni will also be in attendance.

An announcement will be made when the election packages and applications are released. If you have any questions, please contact Anita Ram or Elizabeth Ding.

The River Hill FBLA chapter returned home from States this afternoon, exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally, but with several outstanding victories in hand.

We'd like to announce that we will have three newly inducted State officers representing River Hill during 2008-2009: Lissa Murakami as State Historian, Irene Chen as State Parliamentarian and Sam Storey as State Secretary.  Congratulations to these outstanding members who will be taking on the responsbilities of State office in the coming year!

We are even more excited to announce that River Hill has once again been named the Maryland FBLA Conference Champion, our fifth year as the reigning state champion.  There is not much to say except thank you, to every member, to every parent, to our advisor, Ms. Waters and everyone else who has extended their assistance in making this success possible.  A full list will be forthcoming, but River Hill placed in 11 3rd place awards, 8 2nd place awards, and 13 1st place awards! It is important to note that our victory was not easy; rather, the top spot went back and forth between several chapters before the conclusion.  Each and every member's dedicated effort was crucial for our entire chapter as a whole to reach its full potential, and for that dedication, we thank you once more.

On a more personal note, this will be the last SLC for your senior officers, Liz, Anita and I.  The past few years in FBLA have been amazing for all of us and this conference was as good as any.  Looking ahead to the national conference in Atlanta, we hope to see many of you again one final time before we say goodbye to FBLA.

Also, happy, happy birthday Elizabeth Ding :)

This is a picture we took at the end of SLC 2007, conference champions 4th year in a row!  River Hill is a big name on the state level and we're aiming straight for the top again this year.  Don't let us down! Besides studying for your event (see here for some previously used tests), don't forget to bring different formal outfits.  Jackets, slacks, shirts, ties, belts, socks and shoes for guys, jacket, blouse, skirt or pants for girls.  And maybe a good luck charm.

I hope everyone's getting pumped for States, because I promise you that it's an experience you'll never forget.

The FBLA Maryland State Leadership Conference is quickly approaching!

For all the members who have never been to the conference, be prepared for a treat! The conference starts out with an opening ceremony consisting of a presentation of the officers and candidates, several speeches by different officers and candidates, as well as a speech by a distinguished keynote speaker. Following the formalities, dinner will be served and all of next year's officers will begin their campaigns. Over the course of the next 24 hours, everyone will be showered with assorted goodies by the candidates, compete in their particular events, and have some good times with friends new and old. Sunday, the awards ceremony will be held. Walking across that stage is a great feeling, so be sure to place!

In less than two weeks, we will be at the conference competing to hold our four-year running state title. In hopes of placing, ALL competitors should be studying and preparing for their events at this point; we don't have that much longer to get ready! If you still do not have study materials for your event topics please stop by Ms. Waters' room or talk to Liz Ding or Anita Ram ASAP. It is essential that every competitor is over-prepared for their event topic(s).

Also, River Hill has three current chapter officers running for state positions: Rocky Bostick, Sam Storey, and Lissa Murakami. I believe I speak for the three of them when I say they would greatly appreciate it if everyone could help them campaign during the conference by handing out fliers and goodies, or just talking highly of them to other members around throughout the conference. 

The 2008 SLC is sure to be a blast, and I can't wait to see everyone there!

One of the newer events at the State level is Digital Video Production, where teams must submit a video to compete with other videos from around the state.  This year, Matt Moore and Benji Foreman have produced a video to be entered in this competition and their submission is now available for viewing.  The topic of the video is FBLA week and co-stars Kevin Yeung as PBL Boy and Sundeep Patnaik as FBLA Man.  It's a truly amazing video that is touching in all the right places.  Check it out.

Vice President- Rocky Bostick
Secretary- Sam Storey
Treasurer- Brooks Gabel
Historian- Lissa Murakami

Good Luck candidates!

Also, we have been contacting various State competitors who need to submit pre-made materials to the State office.  Since the materials must be in the State office by Friday morning, these need to be turned in to us by Wednesday afternoon so that we can go over it on Thursday and make sure it's complete before sending it out Thursday afternoon.  Please contact us for any problems with this schedule because sending the materials out on time is absolutely critical.

We'll have lots more news coming through soon, so check back!

Thank you to everyone for competing and congratulations to everyone who placed!

Just a quick post for now, but we came back from Regionals last night around 7, with lots of victories on the day.  We won the Region IIC conference with River Hill at 228 points, Marriotts Ridge at 96 and Century at 27.  What does this mean?  As you can see from the picture above, it means we have a lot of new trophies!

On Monday, we'll have a full list of people's placements and handing out the trophies that weren't claimed.  For now, enjoy the victory -- and get ready for States in April!