FCCLA members qualify for state
By Donnie A. Lucas
A group of 20 Albany FCCLA members competed at the Regional Leadership Conference last week in Waco, with both Parliamentary Procedure teams and two other paired partners advancing to the state conference.
Both the Level 1 and Level 2 parliamentary teams are moving on to the State Regional Conference set for March 31 through April 2 in Dallas.
The Level 1 (junior high) team won first in its division. The group consists of Hattie Jo Braly, Tatum Grady, Zayne Lefevre, Wesley Gleitz, Connor Smith, Colter Edgar, Jack Nail, and Braeten Street – all eighth graders.
“It was an eye-opening experience for the eighth graders who had never competed before, said FCCLA sponsor Jennifer Marshall. “They learned a lot, making some mistakes that they can correct before going to state.”
The Level 2 parliamentary team (ninth and 10th grade) is basically the same group that competed as Level 1 last year, winning the regional, state, and national titles.
Now all ninth graders, the team finished in second place to move forward to state.
“We lost two members off of the last year’s team who moved away,” Marshall said. “Considering that the two new members of the group had never competed before, I thought it went well.”
Members of the Level 2 team are Caroline Chapman, Mimi Ivy, Madison Parrott, Woods Peterson, Tristan Howe, Jaxson Street, and Cade Fairchild.
Marshall said both teams, as well as the partner projects, have the opportunity to continue to improve before the state contests.
Ann Davis and Lainey Cash will move on in chapter Service Project Display. The team got a third place at the regional meet, with the top five places advancing to state.
“Their project was a mum workshop at the elementary school prior to homecoming,” Marshall said. “The judges really liked that they chose an age appropriate project that the elementary kids could really get into.”
The Level 3 (11th and 12th grade) team of Jaci Chapman and Callan Edgar earned a second place finish in the Level 3 National Programs in Action contest.
“Their project highlighted all the projects that the FCCLA chapter has done in partnership with ResourceCare, like the canned food drive, Winter Light Fest, Valentines for the Vittles by Vehicles, and buying Christmas gifts,” Marshall said.
Cort Peterson also entered the Level 3 Repurpose and Redesign contest, deconstructing an old leather saddle and creating new leatherwork items.
“Cort’s project was very well received, but his contest is probably the category with the most entries,” Marshall said.
Marie Hufschmidt was recognized at the conference for her Power of One project, which is not one of the projects that competes for placing.
Marshall said that there are also two teams competing with online video projects. The top two projects in each category will be selected at the state conference to be presented at the national conference in Denver in June.
The team of Houston Heatly and Luke Marshall have produced a video on the effects of screen time on students, while Zane Waggoner and Lanxton Viertel produced a video on the role students play in school safety.
The online entries will find out at the state convention if their projects are selected to be shown at the national conference.
