Roundtables & Breakout Sessions

Round table 1

Social Media Specifics- Julie Ledbetter

Brainstorm with Julie on how to leverage social media for your specific school, CTSO, or class. 

Roundtable 2

Print your way to Profit- How to run an Apparel Biz at your school- Richard McCarthy 

Looking to make money for your DECA chapter? Open your own in-house apparel printing business and print apparel for clubs, sports teams and your school store. I'll show you what you need to get started, fund the start-up with Perkins Grant money, and teach the students how to run/operate the business. 

DECA: A Guide to Running a State Officer- Jamie Young

 Interested in having a State Officer? Attend this session to learn all about running a student for a State Officer position. 

Roundtable 3

New Teacher Table- Kelli Buffo

At this New Teacher Table Kelli will be sharing tips & tricks on how to make it through the year, along with provide resources that can be used immediately in the classroom. 

Teambuilders 101- Rachel Caliga

 Teambuilders can help your class thrive through distractions, teaches students critical communication skills, and makes your class grow through fun and interactive relationship development. Join in on this roundtable to bring in this fun element into your classroom. 

Roundtable 4

First to a Million- Dan Sheeks

At this roundtable, we will talk about a fast-growing niche in the personal finance world called early financial independence (or early FI). Early FI is the idea that someone can reach financial freedom and thus be able to “retire” well before age 65. This topic is an engaging way to get teens interested in their financial futures. 

Project-Based Business Law: Elissa Jane Mastel 

Make learning so much fun! Teach your students how to negotiate, form businesses, and develop skills to advocate for themselves and their businesses. This project-based class is fun, engaging, and a blast to teach. Curriculum includes writing contracts, business formations, mock trials, and researching and reenacting current events. Toss the textbooks! No memorization needed. When students engage in a kinesthetic way with concepts and ideas, they learn so much more and fall in love with this subject. Whether you decide to be a lawyer or take on business as an entrepreneur, it is so important to be fluent in business law concepts. This is a fun, hands on, busy class where students run many of the lessons and learn to present ideas, think critically, understand business ethics, and trust themselves to advocate for what's important.

Roundtable 5

Financial Literacy is Key: Jessica Mace & Laurel Lane- MSU Denver 

Business ¢ents is a student focused show that discusses money, issues related to money and how money works in our lives. Hosted by MSU Denver College of Business professors Laurel Lane and Jessica Mace, listen to discussions and lessons that are important to people and the building blocks that can be applied to a wide range of fields and jobs. Free lesson plans, worksheets, and accompanying projects included. 

Laurel Lane has 20 years of executive-level leadership experience in Digital Marketing and Media including work for MediaNews Group (now Digital First Media), Lee Enterprises and Journal Register Company (now Digital First Media), and business development for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Erie Times-News. Ms. Lane holds a BA in Literature from the University of Houston, and a MA in Integrative Marketing Communications from the University of Colorado- Boulder. Jessica Mace has nearly 15 years of experience in market-related roles in the financial services industry, largely focused on security analysis. She also works as Affiliate Faculty in the Finance Department of MSU-Denver. Ms. Mace has taught Managerial Finance and Personal Money Management, tutors for a wide range of Finance and Economics courses, and is a co-host of Business Cents, a podcast focused on Financial Literacy. She has taught personal finance workshops to incoming college freshman and mentored Colorado middle schoolers in the state's Stock Market Experience. Ms. Mace holds a BA in Economics and International Studies from Northwestern University and an MBA from Cornell University. 

Roundtable 6

DECA DECA DECA: Brad Peer 

Learn about important updates for the 23-24 school year along with a new fundraising opportunity for your chapter. Feel free to come with any questions you may have! 

FBLA Champion Chapter & Peak Awards: Molly Davis 

Don't reinvent the wheel with your FBLA chapter! Come see how these two programs can help you boost member engagement and structure your FBLA program from August to June. 

Roundtable 7

Icebreaker Ideas: Sara Mossman 

Need some fun and new icebreakers for your classroom and CTSO? We have you covered at this roundtable. 

SBE Food 101- Aly Johnson

Thinking of starting a School-Based Enterprise? Already have an SBE but need to brainstorm new ideas? Join us for a FUN discussion of all things school store.

Roundtable 8

Integrating the Colorado Career Cluster Model in Your Career Class: Howard Wolsky '

In this session Howard will talk you through how he makes the Colorado Career Cluster Model the central theme of his introductory career class for mainly 9th and 10th graders. He'll show you the progression that leads to student presentations on a deep dive of their chosen career path. 

Quick sub plans: Kaylyn Fergione

Reach and teach provides free lesson plans that you can implement. Along with a free catalog of virtual interviews & worksheets! 

Roundtable 9

GooseChase Missions for your CTSO: JoLynn Baral 

Presenter will teach you the basics of how to set up a GooseChase account and create missions in order to help engage your DECA and FBLA Members at conferences. 

SupportFund: JoLynn Baral

Fund Raise for your CTSO: JoLynn will provide personal experience using SupportFund to help fund their DECA and FBLA Chapters. 

Roundtable 10

CTSO Leadership Development: Clare Lenox

This roundtable will be focused on leadership development activities/tips to take your DECA and FBLA leaders to the next level. We will focus on strategies that are applicable to the workplace that you can introduce to your CTSO leaders. 

Roundtable 11

FIRE Within: Youth Entrepreneurs Affecting Social Change- Jenn Green

FIRE Within Educates, Equips, and Empowers young entrepreneurs to influence social change. We believe in the unharnessed creativity and ingenuity of high school youth who, with the right tools, training and support can have a massive impact on current social issues affecting our world. 

Roundtable 12

CU Denver Offerings: Vicki Alfieri

In this roundtable, you will learn more about the CU Denver Business School and what opportunities it offers students. Focus will be given to the different business majors available, support services provided, unique programs offered to students, and scholarship opportunities. Learn about what it’s like for students to continue their education in the heart of downtown Denver. 

Vicki Alfieri is the Undergraduate Recruitment Coordinator for the CU Denver Business School. In this role, she works with high school students to navigate the college search process as incoming freshmen, as well as with current college students looking to transfer into the Business School. She has held this role for almost two years, advising students on the admissions process, providing information about the different business majors, and spearheading the Business School Recruitment scholarships. Before coming to CU Denver, Vicki gained 6 years of experience working in college recruitment out of state. 

Roundtable 13

(Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Program Approvals in 15 minutes: Jennifer Cormier 

Whether you it’s your first time doing a program approval or your 20th program renewal, join this roundtable to learn about updates for the year, available resources, deadlines, best practices, and templates for. Come with any questions you may have and leave feeling confident to submit your program approval or renewal. 

Adding Grow with Google Certifications to Your Classroom (And earn up to $1000 per Certificate): Jennifer Cormier 

Learn how to equip students with in-demand credentials while also earning up to $1000 per certificate through CDIP using Grow with Google’s new educational resources, all currently at zero cost. This session will go over the multitude of resources from Grow with Google, including presentations, videos, and an on-demand learning center that prepare students to earn their certifications in Digital Marketing & Ecommerce, Project Management, and/or Data Analytics. We’ll discuss implementation, best practices, and an opportunity to access the materials for free. 

Roundtable 14

Junior Achievement: Sheri Bryant 

Join me at the Junior Achievement table to discover a wealth of FREE educational resources that will inspire and enrich your teaching journey. Explore innovative tools, engaging materials, and a NEW student experience that dives into career and entrepreneurship inspiration! 

Leveraging ChatGPT and AI in the Business Classroom: Erik Kaufhold, Mountain View

This workshop will look at Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom as a tool for educators & students. We will briefly introduce AI and its relevance in the modern business landscape; highlight the benefits of incorporating AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, in the classroom; and emphasize the importance of preparing students for the AI-drive future of business. 

FBLA 101: Linsay Bornhofen, Air Academy

Are you new? Lindsay would love to walk you through the new things. She grew her program from 8 students to over 100 in 3 years. How did she do it? Come find out. 

School Business Entrepreneurship Class: Jen Sheets, Cherry Creek High School

This roundtable will cover how to embed entrepreneurial skills into a school based business. In our school based print shop students create products, develop customer acquisition strategies, bid jobs, and seek to create raving fans. In this session, we will discuss strategies to increase entrepreneurial efforts in your school based businesses. 

The Game of Money - Personal Finance Introduction to Budgeting: Pam Neitzel, Cherokee Trail High School

The Game of Money is a great way to introduce Personal Finance students to budgeting and using spreadsheets. Students will "walkthrough" life with a guided PowerPoint and input budget choices on a budget spreadsheet to see how financial decisions can affect their life. 

AI for Teachers – Let’s Do This!: Dan Sheets, Cherry Creek Elevation 

Join this break-out session to dive right into some AI sites that are specifically designed to make our “teacher lives” easier! We’ll look at how to generate lesson plans, unit outlines, engagement activities, evidence statements, rubrics and learning targets. We will use sites to recommend high-quality video resources, create slideshow presentations, create questions for YouTube videos, and develop discussion prompts. And they all work in seconds! 

Entrepreneurship Academy: Elissa Jane Mastel, John F. Kennedy

Create a pathway at your school where your students are learning to take charge and start their own businesses. In today's job market, you can start making minium wage, or start at the top creating your own economy around you. Entrepreneurship for our students provides so many benefits including leadership skills, problem solving, self-esteem, creative outlet, and collaboration with others. Whether students choose to run their own businesses after school or not, they learn valuable skills on being a leader, dealing with big challenges, and knowing that anything is possible when they finish this program. Entrepreneurial leadership skills can be applied to any career path.

Empower Your Students! Get Students Engaged!: Cindy Brandt, Coronado High School 

Everyone talks about how important it is to get students engaged, but does it really work? How? Teach Empowered has created a 100% free curriculum (with Market Day Capstone) designed to perfectly fit business classes that will engage every phone-addicted student in your class. In addition, they provide all the resources (funding!) you need – no strings attached! So if you are wondering how to try something different without reinventing the wheel then come to this breakout session. 

How to Bring Ethics into your High School Classroom: Janet Brophy, Idalia High School

Learn how to implement ethics into your classroom either with a few lessons, a semester, or year-long course. Free resources thanks to the Daniels Fund.