Albany FCCLA advances record number to state
By Melinda L. Lucas
A large group of 27 Albany FCCLA members, the most ever, competed at the Regional Leadership Conference last week in Waco, with most of them advancing on to the state meet in Dallas April 11-13.
“I’m very proud of them,” Jennifer Marshall, FCCLA sponsor, said. “For some of them, this was their first time to compete, and the judges were extremely impressed.”
The top five places at the regional level advance to state, with the top two from the State Leadership Conference moving on to the National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, July 5-9.
The Level 1 (junior high) parliamentary procedure team won first in its division. The group consists of Hailey Gleitz, who acted as president of the group, along with Trevor Bellah, Blake Britting, Keeley Britting, Hattie Fikes, Avery Gleitz, Haiden Niell, and Kynlee Milligan, all eighth graders.
The Level 2 parliamentary procedure team, which can include both freshmen and sophomores, also placed first with an all-freshmen team – Charli Trail, Kamryn Graham, Finlee Brown, Charli Trail, Carsyn Clegg, Aiden Vickers, Jakobi Roberson, and Colter Edgar.
“Finlee Brown (president) and her team have placed first at the regional conference two years in a row and qualified for state twice,” Marshall said.
Albany’s other Level 2 parliamentary procedure team, with all sophomores, placed second to move on to the state contest for the third consecutive year. Team members include president Hattie Braly, Braeten Street, Connor Smith, Jack Nail, Wesley Gleitz, Adrian Wren, and Zayne Lefevre.
Seniors Myleigh Leveridge and Averie Burns placed fourth and qualified for state in “Chapter in Review Portfolio, Level 3.” They documented all of the activities, service projects and fundraisers the FCCLA chapter has conducted during this school year.
“These students will continue to work on their projects and skills in preparation for the state competition,” Marshall said. “If these young parliamentary procedure teams stick with it and continue to improve, they will have the skills necessary to serve on student government in college, executive boards as adults, and much more. Parliamentary procedure is a skill they can use for the rest of their lives.”
In the parliamentary procedure contest, team members take a 20-question test, select two items of new business to incorporate into their meeting, and conduct a 15-20 minute meeting using parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order.
Marshall said she appreciated the leadership that Leveridge and Burns exhibited on the trip.
“Myleigh has been attending leadership conferences and competing since her freshman year, and she is an excellent mentor for our younger members,” she said.
The FCCLA sponsor said that there are also two teams competing with online video projects. The top 20 videos in the nation will advance directly to the national level.
“We are still waiting to hear how our online entries placed,” Marshall said. “We are expecting those results to be announced in the next few weeks.”
Woods Peterson, Madi Parrott, Mimi Ivy, and Tristan Howe submitted a Level 3 Instructional Video in Level 3 over breaking a bad habit.
Chip Chambers, Slade Windham and Huffman Heatly also submitted an Instructional Video in Level 3 about selecting a career path.
All those submitting videos are juniors and seniors.
