FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) members will participate in a leadership conference on April 27-29, 2015.  The students who went to the leadership conference got to participate in STAR (Students Taking Action for Recognition) events.

“The leadership conference was about all the different STAR events and how to prepare for the STAR events,” said Joy Dudley,  Career and Technical Education teachers and FCCLA advisors.

This conference is not an average leadership conference. The students compete in subject-specific events.

“They compete in a variety of competitive events that may be subject-specific, based on a Family and Consumer Science curriculum,” said Irma Bode, a Career and Technical Education teacher and FCCLA advisor. “There are events in Apparel, Foods, Interior Design, and Child Development, and then there are events in Job Interview, Interpersonal Communication, and Illustrative Talk. Then, there are some that have to do with the national programs in FCCLA, for example, Families Taking on Community Traffic Safety and Stop the Violence.”

The leadership conference represents FCCLA’s community and family based organization.

“FCCLA is a community-based organization,” said Dudley. “We really like to help out in the community, and showing how important family base is.”

This leadership conference is open to FCCLA members who want to compete.

“Any FCCLA member can go,” said Bode. “All the students who are going typically are competitors.”

Simran Bhatia, a junior, remembers her first time competing in the conference.

“Last year when we went, it was my first time competing, so I was a really nervous,” said Bhatia, “We worked really hard on our project and were aiming for gold for state so we could go to nationals in Texas.”

Besides competing, the participants gain skills for the future.

“It gives a lot of opportunities because there are colleges you can talk to,” said  senior Aerial Woody, “It improves your public speaking skills because you have to talk to a bunch of judges, present your product to them, and show them what you really love.”

Overall, the FCCLA Leadership Conference helps the competitors to gain skills in communication that can apply in life.

“It teaches you responsibility because  you have a product you have to complete on a certain deadline,” said Woody.  “It’s also super fun because you get to meet people from all over North Carolina and talk to them about why you love FCCLA.”

Working on the project and going to the conference also adds to communication skills.

“It takes a lot of communication skills and organization because you have to plan the project, coronate with your partner, and do what you have to do,” said Bhatia. “It teaches you a lot when you have to interact with a lot of people because we had to interact with children, so I learned how to teach.”