Fundraising ongoing for FCCLA trip
By Donnie A. Lucas
A large group of Albany students and sponsors will travel to San Diego later this month to compete in the FCCLA National Leadership Conference.
The group of 12 students will attend the conference on June 29 through July 1 to either compete or present projects.
Seven junior high students will be participating in the parliamentary procedure contest for the Level 1 division, which includes junior high students. The local group took first at the state conference to earn the trip to nationals.
Two other Level 2 online teams for ninth and 10th grade students were also selected to present their projects at the event.
The online teams were picked as the lone presenters in their respective categories from the state of Texas.
The cost of sending the group to San Diego was $30,000, according to sponsor Jennifer Marshall.
“We were able to raise all of the money due to the generosity of our community,” she said. It was critical for us to have this community support because this is a new program, and there was not a budget in place for a trip of this magnitude.”
She said that the school covered the cost of the regional and state conference even though it wasn’t budgeted, but additional help was need to attend the national conference.
“While in San Diego, FCCLA has arranged for us to go to the San Diego Zoo, which is rated the top zoo in the country,” she said. “We are hoping to do some more sightseeing as the schedule allows.”
The sponsor said that Cari Heatly is also collection donations to help with meal money for the trip, which was not included in the original amount raised. Anyone wanting to help can contact Heatly.
“In the fall, we hope to have one or two meal fundraisers in preparation for travel expenses for next year,” Marshall said.
She expressed her gratitude to several local businesses and individuals who contributed in order to make the trip possible, including Texas Prairie Land Foundation, West Texas Rock Resources of Roscoe, Commercial Insurance Solutions, Hanner Chevrolet GMC of Baird, Lucy’s Big Burgers of Abilene, Jon Rex Jones, K.C. and Pati Jones, Brendan and Louisa Fikes, Butch and Sharon Waggoner, Glenn and Brenda Picquet, the Peterson family, and Albany Academic Boosters.
The Level 2 instructional, or how-to, video that will be shown was created by sophomores Cole Read, Lanxton Viertel, and Zane Waggoner.
The video demonstrates basic vehicle maintenance skills such as checking air pressure and fluids that are needed to operate a vehicle safely.
The other video to be presented is a Digital Story for Change designed and created by Houston Heatly and Luke Marshall. Their video addresses the stigma surrounding mental health issues among students.
Both videos are available for viewing on the FCCLA website at https://sites.google.com/albany.esc14.net/albanyfccla.
The Level 1 Parliamentarian Procedure team that took first place at state will conduct another 20-minute meeting using a preset agenda of business, as well as completing a written test. Competing on the team are Mimi Ivy–president, Caroline Chapman–secretary, Tristan Howe–treasurer, and other members Lane Helle, Madison Parrott, Woods Peterson and Braylee Clark.
