Chapter Spotlight - Maysville, MO

This post was written by Britt Kagay, Missouri's National Network Member

Here's another chapter in our weekly "chapter spotlight" series. The Maysville FCCLA chapter shares one of their membership recruitment activities from this fall:

To start off our year we had a "pit party" for all students at our school to get the word out about our FCCLA chapter. We had music, food, and fellowship after a home football game and talked about our chapter at the end of the party. The pit party was great and we have had many new members to our chapter.

After school had been up and running for a few weeks, our local officers gave out ice cream to all members that had payed their dues by the due date. Our chapter is off to a great start and is looking forward to having our first monthly meeting this coming week!

Family Day - September 28, 2009

I know this might be a bit late to do any sort of planning for your chapter to do this project on Monday, September 28, 2009, but you can still use the ideas from Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with your Children in your home. (Teens, just re-word to say "with your parents" and it's all good...) This blurb from the Family Day website sums most of it up:

Dinner Makes a Difference!

More than a decade of research by The National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University has consistently found that the more
often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke,
drink or use drugs.

Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children is a national
movement launched by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University in 2001 that promotes the parental engagement fostered
during frequent family dinners as a simple, effective way to prevent substance
abuse in kids.

To learn more about Family Day and to join parents all across America
in taking the Family Day STAR pledge, log on to http://www.casafamilyday.org/.

Family and consumer sciences teachers will also be interested in downloading the 17-page report "Importance of Family Dinners V" which links the "frequency of family dinners and teens’ substance use, their access to substances, their relationship with their parents, and the signals they receive from their parents about substance use. We also took a closer look at the quality of dinners teens are having with their parents, and the impact of distractions such as cell phones, Blackberries and other electronic devices at the table."

And if you missed (like me) planning for this year's national event, there's nothing to stop your local FCCLA chapter from still planning a similar event to take place during FCCLA week or during National Family Week in November. It would be a great Families First project, too.

Chapter Spotlight: Portageville FCCLA, Region 7

This post was written by Tyler Reynolds, Region 7 State Vice President, from Portageville High School

The Portageville High School FCCLA Chapter has a wide variety of things going on this year. We are excited to kick off this year with a big bang! We have come up with great ways to raise money and have been given the option to visit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis Tennessee.

We started the year off with an officer meeting, to discuss what we would like to do as a chapter. We have come up with a lot of great ideas. Our first task for this year is to sell the following items: corn stalks, pumpkins (small, medium, and large), along with straw bales. We will sell these items up until Main Street Madness, which is part of the National Soybean Festival held here in Portageville. We are also planning to sell fruit and adopting a family during the month of December. Through the “Adopt a Family Program” we have seen so much and it has helped us all realize that not everyone is as fortunate as us. I encourage every chapter to try adopting a family because it really helps people realize real life situations.

I am also very excited to tell you that our chapter will get the chance to visit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis Tennessee. We are planning on making hats for the children and being able to see first hand what this hospital is all about. When I called to set up the appointment to visit the hospital I was told that only 14 people were allowed to tour the hospital per group, and that you have to be 16 or older. They encourage you to buy items from the gift shop which helps out with research efforts, and funding. I am very eager to see what will happen and how much of an impact it will make on our chapter.

If you have found any of this information useful and would like to use it for your chapter or region feel free to do so. Just remember you are a leader even if you don’t feel like one!

Teaching about Digital Citizenship Yet?

I would be curious to know how many family and consumer sciences teachers discuss the topic of "digital citizenship" "digital footprints" or "digital tattoos" with their students. At the Moving at the Speed of Creativity blog by Wes Fryer, I saw the following video which I thought was worth sharing.

Digital Dossier - video from YouTube:

This issue of our "digital" life is part of our "real" life now. Are we in family and consumer sciences talking about this in relation to the important topics of family, relationships, consumerism or wellness? If not us, then who? Who is teaching our students how to harness this technology when it comes to their real families and real relationships? I'm not saying that family and consumer sciences teachers drop what they're doing and start teaching about technology. What I am saying is that family and consumer sciences professionals have a long history of taking what's new in science and technology (of the day) and applying it to daily life.

Shouldn't we be doing this now, with this technology?

Is Your Audience Yawning?

It's time for fall regional meeting workshops, chapter meetings, and the state Access FCCLA Conference. As a local, regional, state or national officer, you may be asked to lead a workshop or two. Think about your experiences as a workshop attendee. Were you always engaged? Did you expect to be entertained? Did you ever make fun of the presenter and leave with "well that was boring?"

While some of the learning that takes place in a workshop is the responsibility of the person with their seat in the chair (you need to be a willing participant), much of the workshop atmosphere is the responsibility of the person in front of the audience. That's YOU. And as much as you may know FCCLA and your topic, if you're boring and not at the top of your presentation game, then you nor the audience will leave with "wow, what a great workshop!"

Uh oh.

Are you starting to sweat it a little? Are you getting anxious or nervous? Well, to the rescue comes our friend Rhett Laubach with some tips for presenters from his blog " Authenticity Rules."

I recommend you take a few minutes and read the tips Rhett has supplied. Also I suggest that you click on the link "For Student Leaders" on the right side of the blog page. There are currently 56 posts there that will help you be a better presenter.

You'll be glad you spent a few minutes learning these tips and implementing them. And trust me, so will your audience. Good luck with your presentations this year in FCCLA!

Family Mealtime as Public Policy?

Today I came across a news release from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign entitled "Public Policy Should Promote Family Mealtimes." I have no reservations about recommending family mealtimes (as family and consumer sciences professionals we well know about the benefits) but the public policy part made my brow furrow. Should the government promote family mealtimes through policy?


I decided to look beyond the headline and read the news release. Many of the statements and recommendations made by professor Barbara H. Fiese are valid and I think common sense. Healthy and nutritious food should be made available in all neighborhoods. Communities and organizations should promote family mealtimes. But should the government, and if so, through what kinds of policies?


While I could debate both sides of this issue, I can think of a better use of everyone's time than reading my thoughts on this topic. What about having your students research and debate this issue? What skills would this require? What would students need to know and do before they could debate? Is this an opportunity to teach across disciplines? What kinds of transferrable skills would a project such as this provide? With whom might they share their findings and information?

I'd be interested in knowing if anyone takes up this topic in their classroom. I think it could make a great FCCLA STAR Event Illustrated Talk as well.

Congratulations to the 2009 Missouri ACTE Award Winners

Congratulations are in order!

Charlotte Gray, family and consumer sciences teacher at Wentzville, was named the 2009 Missouri ACTE Teacher of the Year. Charlotte is well known as a leader in family and consumer sciences professional organizations, having served as the President of the National Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences (NATFACS).

Some of Charlotte's other accomplishments include:

• MoEFACS Teacher of the Year


• Wentzville Holt HS Teacher of the Year


• Wentzville District Teacher of the Year


• numerous NATFACS committees

Charlotte serves as one of the FCCLA advisors in her school, working on community service projects the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event.


Also receiving recognition at the Missouri ACTE Opening Session was LeeAnn Tomlinson, family and consumer sciences teacher and FCCLA advisor from Ava. She received a Professional Development scholarship from the organization.


Missouri FCCLA congratulates each of you on your awards and accomplishments! Thank you for all you do for your students and FCCLA members.

Alumni Feature - Where are they Now?

This post was written by Levi Rash, Missouri Alumni & Associates State President

FCCLA Alumni impact the organization even after membership in high school. Here’s a look at what one of our very own Missouri FCCLA Alumni has been up to lately!

Name: Ross McFerron, Class of 2000

FCCLA Chapter: Advance High School, Advance Missouri

FCCLA Participation:
*1995 - State Star Events Winner / National GOLD winner (Parliamentary Procedure)
*1996 - State Star Events Winner / National GOLD winner (Parliamentary Procedure)
*1997-98 Missouri State Vice President - Region 8
*1998-99 Missouri State President
*1999-2000 National President (First "FCCLA" National President)

After high school, Ross went on to study at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 2004 . He then obtained his Juris Doctorate in 2007 from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. In college Ross completed an internship with the Speaker Pro Tem of the Missouri House of Representatives. He also served as his campaign manager during the fall election of that year

Today, Ross is currently an Attorney at Osburn, Hine, Yates and Murphy LLC in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He plans to continue his career as an attorney in Cape Girardeau, stay involved in the community, and hopefully raise a family with his wonderful wife, Alisa.

Ross’s Advice to FCCLA Members: “Stay involved. Step out of your comfort zone. Work hard. Learn how to communicate with other people effectively. And most importantly, maintain your values. Each day I use skills that I first developed during my involvement in FCCLA. Use the organization as a vehicle to do good, make a difference, and prepare yourself for the future.”

Missouri's Family & Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Tracey Newman, teacher and FCCLA advisor from Ste. Genevieve High School, as she was recognized as the Missouri Educators of Family and Consumer Sciences (MoEFACS) 2009 Teacher of the Year!

She is an accomplished educator and FCCLA advisor. Here are just a few of her state and national accomplishments:

• Family Economics and Financial Education (FEFE) Master Teacher


• Chair, National FCCLA Board of Directors


• Treasurer and various committee membership, MoEFACS


• Missouri ACTE and Region III ACTE Outstanding Teacher in Community Service


• Advised numerous regional, state and national FCCLA officers and candidates


• Local education awards


• State and National FCCLA awards

She's been teaching for 20 years, and along the way, she's learned a thing or two. She encourages her peers to find opportunities for students and nudge them a lot, otherwise they never grow. She says it's just as important to find a few opportunities for yourself, too, or you won't grow either. "There is always something new to learn and when we are learning with our students, they are not only learning our content, but they are learning by our example as well. And, if its not any fun, you're doing it wrong!"

Congratulations, Tracey!

Presentation to the Missouri State Board of Education

Today four members of Missouri FCCLA had the honor to present information to the members of the Missouri State Board of Education. This was an exciting event, as this is the first time in recent memory that Missouri's Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) have been able to provide detailed information and updates to our state board. Earlier this summer, Missouri FFA had this same opportunity. In the coming months, DECA, FBLA, SkillsUSA and TSA will also make similar presentations.

Representing all levels of the FCCLA organization were:

Caroline Kirby, National FCCLA Vice President of STAR Events

Nicole Terry, Missouri FCCLA State President

Martin Estrada, Missouri FCCLA Region 2 Second Vice President

Adrianne Calumpong, North Kansas City HS FCCLA Chapter Vice President

These students did an AMAZING job not only delivering their presentation, but also answering questions from members of the board. They answered questions related to personal finance; academic preparation for careers; chapter finances and recruitment; and leadership development and opportunities. They are accomplished students, public speakers, and outstanding FCCLA members. We were very pleased with the reception they received from each of the state board of education members. Missouri FCCLA - you would have all been very proud of their actions on your behalf today!

We have uploaded their recorded presentation to YouTube, but it is also embedded here. We hope chapters can use this video to help members learn more about the organization.

Once again, thanks to these four members who made this day possible, and to their chapter advisors and school administrators for allowing them to travel to Jefferson City for this event.

These members truly represent the wonderful members of Missouri FCCLA and The Ultimate Leadership Experience! It's great to know that we have this level of leadership throughout our state association.

Missouri FCCLA in Teen Times

Congratulations to the following Missouri FCCLA chapters/members that were included in the September/October issue of Teen Times -

• Page 8 - "Harvesters BackSnack" - Rich Hill High School
• Page 13 - "2009-2010 National Officers" - Caroline Kirby, South Shelby High School
• Pages 18-19 - "Chapters in Action" - Lamar High School, Warsaw High School, Pilot Grove Junior High, Tipton High School, Worth County High School, Hermann Senior High School, Bradleyville Junior High, Carl Junction High School

Remember that all Missouri FCCLA chapters that submit an article to Teen Times (and copy the state advisor) will be recognized with ribbons at the 2010 State Leadership Conference through our "Show-Me Missouri FCCLA in Teen Times" program. Members love those ribbons!

Teachers, don't forget you can incorporate Teen Times into your classroom activities.

Vision....What Do You See?

Have you noticed the "Quote of the Day" widget on the right side of this page? I added it to this blog, but you can also add it to your Facebook profile page - it's from Values.Com - The Foundation for a Better Life. You've probably seen some of their billboards along the highways, which by the way you can download for use in your classroom. It's a great resource.

Today's quote is

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others"

Jonathon Swift (1667-1745); author

What have you seen today in your students that others cannot see? That your students cannot see or yet dare to imagine?


How can you harness the opportunities available in FCCLA to help these students see your vision? How can your family and consumer sciences curriculum, projects, service-learning activities help them see this vision?