Theresa Taylor, business teacher at Cape Central High School, discusses her work with Future Business Leaders of America

Theresa Taylor studied accounting and then education before landing a career in business education 15 years ago. For the past 13 years, she has worked at Cape Central High School as a business teacher and adviser to the Future Business Leaders of America. She also serves as FBLA lead chapter adviser for District 15, which includes Cape Girardeau, Scott and Bollinger counties. Over the years, a number of Taylor's students have qualified for national competitions, run for district and state offices and earned national awards. But the most rewarding part of her career, she says, is seeing the confidence and leadership that students develop through FBLA.

Read on as Taylor shares how the organization is coaching the next generation of America's workforce:

Business Today: How did you come to be a business teacher and FBLA adviser?

Theresa Taylor: I had a business administration degree, and after spending more than 10 years as a stay-at-home mom, I did some substitute teaching and found a love for the classroom. I returned to college to earn my secondary teaching degree. I currently teach computer classes and college preparation class. My first teaching job was a small school and I was the only business teacher and therefore the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) adviser. The FBLA members there were enthusiastic, and I quickly caught their enthusiasm. After a few months I was hooked, and would hate if I had to give it up now.

BT: What do you enjoy about this type of work? And, what are the challenges?

TT: I love the kids. Yes, some are a challenge, but most are good kids and a lot of fun. Students keep you on your toes and young at heart. Teaching computer classes, I get lots of satisfaction from teaching them skills they will use in other classes, in college and the workforce. ... The biggest challenges are students who are not motivated. It is very frustrating as a teacher when you know the student has the ability and you know that curriculum is useful to their future success, but you cannot figure out how to reach them. The biggest challenge for FBLA is time. Most is done before or after school, so that is when we do fundraising, community service, meetings and training students. I need to help students prepare for events through study, practice and working on projects, and after-school hours tend to be when that happens.

BT: Give us a snapshot of your students in FBLA: How many are there? What are they interested in? What projects and competitions does the group do?

TT: We expect to have 60 to 70 members in FBLA at Central. There are more than 15,000 in Missouri. We have a wide variety of members, a variety of ethnic groups, economic and academic backgrounds. Members may be freshman through seniors. Students pick from 65 different competitions. Some are multiple choice tests, such as health care administration and business communication, and there are some presentations and large projects. We have been very successful in the job interview and future business leader categories, as well as several of the technology competitions. Other projects I expect students to compete in include webpage design, computer applications, spreadsheet design and accounting.

BT: How does FBLA work with the community, either for service projects or job shadowing? Why is this valuable to the community as well as local business leaders?

TT: FBLA does several service projects each year. This month we will host the Hunger Run. We run the bleachers between the first and second quarter of the Cape - Jackson football game and collect donations. All money collected goes to the SEMO Food Bank, but it also raises students' awareness of hunger in the community. We are also hosting a blood drive Oct. 11. According to the Red Cross, 20 percent of their donors are high school students. Students will work with publicizing the event, work the event and use their leadership skills to encourage students to donate. A goal of FBLA is to have students job shadow. In the past, our students have not taken advantage of that, but I am looking into the possibility of partnering with businesses or maybe the chamber of commerce to better coordinate that effort. We have also contacted the March of Dimes and we normally collect toys at Christmas.

Our activities are of value to the community because our members are hopefully better community members. Our hope is that they are more responsible, more aware of problems and have the knowledge and skills to participate or organize other community service projects and become leaders in their communities and not just school. The plan is to instill leadership, but also to provide businesses with a more informed and trained workforce to choose from. For example, business people would be impressed if they witnessed how our members dress for their interviews, what their resume looks like and how they conduct themselves in an interview. We also send five or six members to the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee. The goal is to get them to give a good first impression and interact with those they may see across the table at a job interview in the future. They also get to witness professionalism outside the classroom.

BT: What skills and qualities are most important for students to learn in preparation for today's business world? How has this changed over time?

TT: Soft skills (social graces, personal habits, friendliness, dealing with customers appropriately), team work, leadership, computer skills and presentation skills. Soft skills have always been important, but there are more complaints that employees are lacking these skills. They include the ability to talk to an upset customer in an appropriate manner and truly understand their complaints, and being friendly and accommodating with fellow employees. One grumpy, critical employee can make the whole office miserable. Leadership has always been important in the business world, but with business going global, teamwork is more important than ever! Employees need to be able to work as a team, even if members of that team are across the country or across the world. Computer skills are listed in almost every job ad today; 20 years ago that was not the case. With more and more going online, employees need at least basic computer skills. Strong word processing, spreadsheet and database skills would make them much more marketable. Along the same lines, more careers are requiring presentations, either to other employees, customers or peers. You may not like to talk in front of others, but you may have to learn to adapt.

BT: What is your best advice to people just starting out in their career? What about people who have been in the working world for some time?

TT: My best advice when talking to someone starting out in their career: 1. Be on time, or better yet, be five or 10 minutes early. 2. Be there every day, if at all possible. Do not call in sick because you do not feel 100 percent; call in sick because you are truly ill and/or contagious. 3. Dress appropriately. The outfit may be cute, but still not appropriate for the office. I have even heard of people showing up for a bank interview in flip-flops! If you are not sure of appropriate dress, ask a supervisor. Most likely that supervisor will respect you for being professional enough to ask. My best advice for those who have been in the workplace for a time is to accept change and continue to learn. Those who do not embrace change may be left behind, and in this changing world, we must be lifelong learners. Some talk about how much more efficient they could be at work if they updated their computer skills, so update your skills, don't just talk about it.

BT: What else would you like to add about FBLA and business education?

TT: I wish more students would take more business classes. No matter what career they go into, they are going to need to take care of their finances, so a recordkeeping or accounting class would be helpful. Computers are not going away, and while students may be great at gaming or social media, a computer class will teach them to format a report or use Excel to graph data. Our FBLA slogan this year is "most careers will work for a business and all careers value leadership." Therefore, FBLA would be a great place for all students.