NCBEA Fall Conference

North Carolina
Business Education Association
Fall 2009 e-Newsletter
www.NCBEA.org

Congratulations to Deborah Seehorn!

The Southern Business Education Association awarded Deborah Seehorn the 2009 SBEA Supervision Distinguished Service Award during their recent convention in Huntsville, Alabama. Deborah is a Business and Information Technology Education Consultant for the NC State Department of Public Instruction and has long been a member of the NCBEA Board of Directors. With nearly 40 years as an education professional, Deborah continues to make consistently long-term, significant, and difference-making contributions to business teachers in North Carolina. Congratulations, Deborah!

November is National Education for Business Month

NBEA can help you celebrate National Education for Business Month (NEBM) by assisting you with the promotion of your program by:

Focusing attention on the shortage of employees who possess the essential skills that are necessary to the future of business;
Providing business educators with the recognition they need and deserve for the support they provide; and
Stimulating interest among young people in careers that have promising futures in the word of business.

To order posters, visit the NBEA Bookstore at www.nbea.org. Reference numbers for quantities of the 2009 NEBM poster are 14.284 single, 142.85 (100), and 142.86 (set of three).

NCBEA Membership Special Offer

During the months of November and December 2009, two business education teachers can join or renew their NCBEA memberships for a combined total of $45, a savings of $5. Benefits available to members include:

Relevant business education information about professional development opportunities, legislative news, and issues affecting our discipline regularly sent to your email inbox;
Eligibility to apply for a $500 scholarship, which is awarded each year at the NCBEA Annual Meeting to an individual pursuing continuing education or graduate student in business education;
Eligibility to apply for $100 professional development stipends; two are awarded each year at the NCBEA Annual Meeting to members who attend either the Southern Business Education Association (SBEA) convention in the fall or the National Business Education (NBEA) convention in the spring; and
Discounts for hands-on computer workshops offered during the CTE summer conference.

See the NCBEA website at www.ncbea.org for detailed information about these and other member benefits. Renew your membership today, and encourage your colleagues to join, too! Go to www.ncbea.org/application.doc for the membership form. The special discounted "two-for-$45" membership savings won't last long!

Tech Savvy Saver - Tips for Teaching in Tough Economic Times

Many educators are experiencing budget cuts for classroom supplies during this current economy. The following tips on how to stretch your budget were provided by fellow educators!

TONER: When your printer indicates ‘low toner’, take the cartridge from the printer and put it in a plastic bag. Gently rock the cartridge back and forth to ‘loosen’ the toner. You can repeat this process each time you have a low toner message until there is no toner left. Depending on your document, you may be able to print 1,000 extra pages. An additional toner penny saver is to refill the cartridge; do this only when the printer is no longer under warranty (refilling the cartridge may nullify the warranty). You can purchase an inexpensive reusable refill kit and toner powder. Generally, the toner powder will refill three or four toner cartridges. For the best printing, you will only be able to refill the toner cartridge two or three times. Mark on the cartridge the number of times it was refilled to keep track.

PAPER: When making photocopies at the start of the day, the first few pages are generally not good quality and don't get used. Ask your school or a business to save those pages for you. Just print on the reverse side! Partner with a local business, ask them to donate their recycled paper. You can print on the reverse side. Printing companies are an excellent resource – you will receive different color of paper. Just be sure to use the same weight paper.

WHITEBOARDS: Are your whiteboards showing their age? Do you need additional boards? Your local home improvement/hardware store can provide you with an inexpensive alternative. Ask for a shower board; this panel size board can be cut into 9” X 12” individual student-size boards. Some home improvement stores will cut the board for fee or you may want to ask a woodworking or carpentry class to cut the boards for you.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Instead of purchasing costly keyboard masks, use nail polish to hide the letters and numbers. Or pop the keys off and switch their location.
Swap and share supplies with other teachers rather than duplicating your purchasing efforts. You may not need rulers or calculators at the same time.
Check into price breaks for larger quantities of consumables. Some office supplies stores will offer special teacher incentives; be sure to enroll and tell your students and parents!
Do your posters become crunched in storage? Go to your local carpet store or home improvement store. Ask for the cardboard carpet rolls. You will need to cut the tube, but you can fit quite a few posters in the tube.
Use the Internet as a resource! A large number of sites are dedicated to teacher freebies!

Do you have a tip you would like to share? Please send your tip to Cindi Sweeney, NCBEA President, at NCBEAPresident@gmail.com.

UPCOMING DATES & DEADLINES:

Atlantic Coast Business, Marketing, and Information Technology Education Conference
February 11-13: North Raleigh Hilton. See http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/bite/acbmiteconf.cfm for more information.

NBEA Convention
March 30 - April 3: San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, California. See www.nbea.org for more information.

Send your NCBEA e-newsletter submissions to Dr. Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder, NCBEA Past President, at gueldenzoph@att.net. Please share this information with your colleagues. THANK YOU for your continued support of NCBEA!