GRHS FCCLA brings home Gold and Silver from Nationals

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(L to R) Alexandria Sanchez, Abby Payne, Mrs. Lawson, Jordin Voss, Laney Whitefield, and Lilia Juarez.

GRHS FCCLA brings home Gold and Silver from Nationals

July 2018 –More than 7,500 Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) members, advisers, alumni, and guests from across the country gathered in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2018 National Leadership Conference. The meeting provided Glen Rose High School FCCLA members with the opportunity to attend leadership and program training, hear amazing speakers including Key Note speaker, Dan Cathy: Chairman and CEO of Chick-fil-A, meet the National Executive Council, explore colleges and careers and be Inspired! by FCCLA (the 2018 NLC Conference theme).

Five students from Glen Rose High School, along with their FCCLA Advisor, Jill Lawson, were among the members and took part in STAR Event competitions at the conference. FCCLA programs and competitions enrich student learning, improve self-esteem, and serve students with a range of ability levels, economic situations, and cultural influences.

FCCLA offers over 30 STAR [Students Taking Action with Recognition] Events. These events, which include Early Childhood Education, Job Interview, and Sports Nutrition, among others, represent college and career readiness skills taught in Family and Consumer Sciences classroom. Members compete at the Region, State and National level. This year, Lexi Sanchez, Abby Payne, Jordin Voss and Laney Whitefield were among over 4,500 STAR Event participants who competed in Atlanta, Georgia. Recent GRHS graduate, Lexi Sanchez competed in the Advocacy Occupational Event and received a Silver medal at National competition with her ‘Bee Responsible’ Advocacy project. Partners Abby Payne and Jordin Voss received a GOLD medal in the Focus on Children, Sr. event with their Kids Cooking Camp project that positively impacted local kids and impressed the judges. Laney Whitefield, an incoming sophomore at GRHS, received a silver medal in the Entrepreneurship, Jr. event with her project where she researched what it would take to create a business, including creating a portfolio which included everything you would need to open a bakery in Texas.

Also attending the conference was Lilia Juarez, our 2018-2019 Region II Vice President of Competitive Events. Lilia represented GRHS and Texas FCCLA by assisting with the competitive events at the conference, as well as, honing her leadership skills as a participant in the 2018 Leadership Academy at NLC.

Jill Lawson, GRHS Culinary Arts teacher and FCCLA Advisor accompanied the students on the trip and served as the Lead Statistician Evaluator for the Culinary Arts Competition that took place at The Art Institute of Atlanta. Mrs. Lawson had the privilege of working alongside many famous chefs from around the world, including Stafford DeCambra, the President of the American Culinary Federation from Hawaii.

“This was the first time that I have had so many teams/individuals advance to National competition. I am really proud of these students and look forward to encouraging more students to set goals and work hard throughout the year to achieve this level of success. We would like to thank our GRISD School Board and Administrators for supporting CTSO (Career and Technical Student Organizations) such as FCCLA. The skills learned in these organizations will better prepare students for their lives after high school and offer an endless array of possibilities.”

About FCCLA
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a dynamic and effective career and technical student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and address important personal, family, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education. FCCLA has more than 164,000 members and more than 5,300 chapters from 49 state associations, in addition to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

FCCLA: The Ultimate Leadership Experience is unique among youth organizations because its programs are planned and run by members, and it’s the only career and technical in-school student organization with a central focus on careers that support families. Participation in national FCCLA programs and chapter activities helps members become strong leaders in their families, careers, and communities.

For more information on FCCLA, please check out www.fcclainc.org or contact Jill Lawson at (254)898-3844 or lawsji@grisd.net.

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