“FCCLA is very fun, it’s a very accepting community. It’s great for both guys and girls and you build lots of friendships and do lots of service and you eat lots of food. Honestly that’s all we do, it’s a party,” said Joi Dalton, who competed in this year’s FCCLA competition in the Job Interview category related to early childhood education.
FCCLA, which stands for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, is a non-profit organization with over 164,000 members from all over the United States. Members offer service in a myriad of ways and work to develop important leadership skills as well as expanding their critical thinking and communication skills.
The best part of the FCCLA competition according to Erik Newson, a participant in the FCCLA competition in the Food Innovations category, was “the people. Not only did I meet new people but I got to hang out with the other officers from our school.”
Every year FCCLA has a competition with region, state, and national levels. To move on from region to state an individual or team must receive at least 50 out of 100 points on their project. Only the top two teams or individuals in each category qualify for nationals.
In the competition “there are over thirty events so you have a lot of options. You get to choose what would be fun for you and which one would be the best event for you” said Delany Gwynn who competed in the Focus on Children event during the FCCLA competition.
The different categories are based around the FAC’s classes with many different events related to child care and development, culinary arts and hospitality management, sewing and fashion design. FCCLA members are able to compete in something they care about and share their ideas and hard work.
Mary Payne competed in FCCLA’s Fashion Design event. She said “I designed a collection of dresses, and made a business plan for my career as a designer. My goal was to make sure there was something for everyone in my collections because I want everyone to have the opportunity to own a piece that flatters them and makes them feel beautiful.”
Many of Timpview’s students were able to compete in multiple categories of this year’s FCCLA competition. They all put in a lot of time and hard work and did well in the competition, some even qualified for nationals. FCCLA has taught them skills they can use throughout their lives.
