Ready To Coach A LifeSmarts Team?

LifeSmarts? Whether you have never heard of LifeSmarts, know of the program but have never used it or have been a coach previously but haven’t signed up this year, now is the time to get involved!

LifeSmarts has it all—student competitions, lesson plans, activities, assessments, trips, prizes……! Be part of the education and the fun—sign up today as a varsity coach or a junior varsity coach.

Educators New to LifeSmarts

Learn how you can use the LifeSmarts site to:

• Use LifeSmarts in classes, groups or community programs
• Read about and access our online teaching resources
• Apply educational standards to LifeSmarts
• Read coach and participant comments

New Coaching Resources for 2010-2011

• TeamSmarts monthly challenges
• LifeSmarts U Consumer Advocacy Center lessons
• Practice rounds from 2010 competitions
• 2010-2011 Question of the Day Calendars
• Fast Facts and Scavenger Hunts

Questions?  Please contact Missouri's state coordinator, Merilee Thoenen.  It's a great program, and the price is right....free!

(Thanks to American Century Investments for continuing to sponsor LifeSmarts in Missouri.  We appreciate you!)

  

FCCLA Poster Contest - Time to Vote!

Like this poster?  It was designed by Alyssa Glasgow from Bolivar High School.  It's one of three finalists for the 2011 FCCLA Poster Contest.  You can vote for it to be the winner by going to FCCLA and simply clicking on the choice and voting.  No log in required!

I asked Alyssa to share with us her thoughts about the poster design and contest, as well as about her experiences in FCCLA.  Here's what she had to say:

"I designed the poster the way I did to incorporate all of the programs and aspects of FCCLA.  I really believe that all of these things are helping to make the world a better place and helping our generation become better leaders. I have been a member for 3 years, since I was a freshman.  My favorite part of FCCLA is, for one thing it gives me something to do, but I like the community service projects.  I like the fact that it is helping make someone else's life better.  I also like being an officer in my local chapter.  I have been the Historian for the past 2 years.  I get to take all of the pictures for our chapter and put them into a scrapbook at the end of the year.  Taking pictures for our chapter is my favorite thing to do, because I would like to be a photographer one day."

Don't delay - voting ends December 1, 2010.  Help Alyssa's poster be the one that wins! 

Look Who's in Teen Times!

Congratulations to the following Missouri FCCLA Members who are featured in the November/December issue of Teen Times, FCCLA's national magazine. 

On the cover, Missouri members Caleb Hearon, Daryl Smith, and Jordan Hale are pictured, along with 7 other winners of the FCCLA "Leaders to Watch" contest.  Their bios are included in the Leaders to Watch article on page 9.  Also on page 9 is a photo of Debra Price, who was one of 5 advisors chosen for the "Leaders to Watch" section.  I can attest that all of these leaders are definitely an asset to Missouri FCCLA!

On page 12, Missouri officers and members are included in the group photo of the students that attended "Capitol Leadership" in Washington D.C., in October, 2010.

FCCLA chapters from Carl Junction, Lamar, Brunswick, Pleasant Hope, and Pilot Grove are featured on pages 14-15 in the "FCCLA In Action" section of the magazine.  Be sure to check out some of the great projects these chapters are doing!

How can your chapter be in Teen Times?  Submit an article to teentimes@fcclainc.org and copy it to christine.hollingsworth@dese.mo.gov - not only will you get the chance to be in Teen Times, but your chapter members will each receive a Teen Times ribbon at State Leadership Conference just for submitting your article.  Don't forget about entering the FCCLA contests - that's how Caleb, Daryl, and Jordan made the front cover. 

Congratulations again to our great Missouri FCCLA chapters!  You represent Missouri very well!

Chapter Spotlight: Maysville FCCLA

This week's spotlight is from Kelsey Cole, Vice President of Development.  She shares how her chapter raises money during this season.  In the comments, share how your chapter raises much needed funds for leadership development activities!

It’s almost time for Thanksgiving! No matter what your family’s holiday tradition is, you always have rolls on the table. The Maysville FCCLA chapter has found a way to make this essential food item a fundraiser. In the beginning of November, FCCLA students took order forms to their friends, family, and community members and started selling. Over the years the community members of Maysville have come to depend on the delicious yeast, crescent rolls. All of the rolls are homemade and the students donate the ingredients and deliver them for chapter points so it’s pure profit. 

Students and parents form a mass production assembly line and work to produce the tasty rolls. The smell of buttered golden brown rolls wafts through the halls of Maysville high and kids often buy rolls to eat at lunch. Over the years this fundraiser has been the Maysville chapter’s most dependable money maker. Last year the chapter sold over 500 dozen rolls and raised over $3,000. This year the chapter has added jelly pan pumpkin rolls as a dessert. A local mom has donated the recipe and her time to help make this new item a success. With 78 members, 6 ovens and countless pounds of flour, sugar, and yeast the Maysville FCCLA chapter will be baking again soon.  

Chapter Spotlight: Region 7

This week's spotlight is on Region 7, the smallest Missouri FCCLA region, but with a lot of energy and dedication. Thanks to Alison Davis, Vice President of Alumni & Associates, for contributing this week!

On Monday, November 1st, Region 7 held their Regional Meeting in Malden, MO. This year’s theme was “Around the World with FCCLA.” In the opening session, the regional officers were dressed up as if they were from a foreign country. They then told how their country represented FCCLA or how that particular country and FCCLA had something in common. Following that, there was a GREAT motivational speaker, Marty Powers. His main focus was that you need to give 110% in everything you do!

Next there were two different workshops to attend. One workshop was about teen pregnancy and how it affects your life significantly! The next workshop was about Facebook safety. These were both valuable for teens!! The Region 7 Meeting was very beneficial to all students in attendance.

Chapter Spotlight: Puxico FCCLA

Thanks to Kelly Gillock, Vice President of Parliamentary Law, for this Chapter Spotlight!

The Puxico, Missouri FCCLA Chapter has been working hard to raise money for a very worthwhile cause: the Children's Miracle Network! To do this, we are participating in the Baby Bottle Boomerang community service project. Members, along with others who want to help, took a baby bottle to fill with change from anywhere they can find. We challenged them to ask businesses, neighbors, teachers, adults, friends, and anyone that came their way.


To fill the baby bottle, coins and dollar bills are accepted. Our highest monetary donation so far has been a very generous amount of $20.00 and it was given on the first day that we started this activity! This cause has truly been touching people and our chapter considers itself very lucky to be participating in it. We hope to fill our gigantic jug (which is made to hold a few gallons of water) to the very brim with pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters, dollar bills, ten-dollar bills, and twenty-dollar bills. There isn't any stopping until the whole jug is full--and maybe not even after that!

The Baby Bottle Boomerang has been beneficial for our chapter members, the community members, the staff and kids at school, and even for myself. Through this project, we are able to help others, become a closer knit chapter, and develop and allow our leadership skills to grow. The Baby Bottle Bommerang is a great way to get your chapter involved in the community and even to allow the community to get involved and participate in raising the money as well because our FCCLA members are the ones leading this project but the community members are also raising the money.

We have enjoyed the Baby Bottle Boomerang so far and hope to continue to raise as much money as we can for the Children's Miracle Network. We hope that this has helped some creative juices to flow if you may have had some trouble on how you may be able to help your community. Now here is your chance to show what FCCLA is to your community by getting involved! After all, we are the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.

Chapter Spotlight: Rich Hill FCCLA

Editors Note:  When I went to the school website to get the links for this article, the photo of the FCCLA chapter and of their project was on the front page of the district website.  It's great to see the district support of the Rich Hill FCCLA Chapter!  This post submitted by Vickie Popplewell, Rich Hill FCCLA Chapter Advisor.  Thanks for sharing the project with us.

FCCLA Halloween Costume Contest

October 29 started out like most days in the Rich Hill R-4 School District. By 8 a.m. it was obvious that this was no ordinary day. The cast from Johnny Depp’s “Alice in Wonderland”, butterflies, fairies, witches, zombies, and many more strange characters roamed the halls of academia. Funny or scary as they seemed, each character did its part to help the Bates County Food Pantry.

 

Each student that dressed in costume donated a minimum of three non-perishable food items. They were then entered in the FCCLA 2010 Halloween Costume Contest. The eighth grade members of FCCLA organized and facilitated the contest. These members are Hayley K., Whitli T., Kayla C., and Katelynne W.  Hourly winners were chosen from the “best of the best” list. Grand prize winners were selected from the best boy, best girl, and best adult costumes. The grand prize winner for the best boy costume was Aiden H., as a very old man with a walker. The grand prize winner for the girl catagory was Jordann W. as Johnny Depp’s character of the Mad Hatter. Kathlene C. was the adult winner. She was a tea bag.

By the end of the school day, all costume participants had a great time. One hundred and ninety-five food items were collected. The FCCLA 2010 Halloween Costume Contest was declared a success by the local chapter. 

Congratulations to Walnut Grove FCCLA!

Walnut Grove FCCLA Team Wins First TeamSmarts Competition!

Submitted by Merilee Thoenen, Missouri LifeSmarts Coordinator

The Walnut Grove High School FCCLA LifeSmarts team has won the first TeamSmarts monthly competition in the FCCLA division. As the October winners, they will receive a $100 cash prize for their chapter. Their topic was Personal Finance. Team members included Samantha Pierce, Austin Brown, Becca Neely, and Cassandra Kunz. They were coached by Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, Debra Price.

LifeSmarts, the ultimate consumer challenge, is a national educational program that develops the consumer and marketplace skills of teens. The program complements the curriculum already in place in middle- and high-schools and can be used as an activity for classes, groups, clubs and community organizations.

TeamSmarts is an online LifeSmarts activity designed to be used cooperatively by teams of students. Students can compete in the FCCLA division or in the LifeSmarts division. This LifeSmarts learning tool helps teens investigate important consumer topics and helps teams prepare for live competition. TeamSmarts fosters problem solving, team building, and leadership skills.

Monthly quizzes contain 100 questions, and each month will focus on a specific LifeSmarts topic. Teams have one hour in which to complete TeamSmarts. Teams will be scored for speed and accuracy. The more quickly the team correctly answers a question, the more points the team receives for that answer.

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Missouri FCCLA coordinates Missouri LifeSmarts, with financial support from American Century Investments.  For more information on LifeSmarts in Missouri, please visit our LifeSmarts page. 

Fall Leadership "Access FCCLA" Conference Update

Submitted by Emily Blackburn, Vice President of State Programs. 

Sunday October 25, 2010 and Monday October 26, 2010 students from all over Missouri came to Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach to attend the Missouri Fall Leadership "Access FCCLA" Conference.  With the help of our professional speakers/facilitators, Missouri FCCLA held leadership sessions such as Leadership Unlimited, Take AIM (Active and Involved Members), and Chapters in Action.

While the conference began on Sunday afternoon, the state officers planned the conference activities back in July during their summer state executive council meeting.  With all of their plans in motion, they worked on site getting packets, setting up equipment, and preparing the meeting rooms to make this one of our best Fall Leadership conferences.

By the time 6:30 p.m. rolled around students were coming to the workshop rooms full of energy and ready to learn. To start out the event we did introductions of the state officers and a quick "networking and meet new people" game. After that we jumped right into the learning!

After the first session the state officers and regional officers headed on over to the regional officer reception. We had popcorn, lemonade, and played some fun games.  FCCLA officers always have fun wherever we are!

The next day everyone got up with a smile on their face (and maybe a few yawns, to be fair) and headed out to the 8:30 a.m. meetings. At this meeting everyone got a lot of information and learning put in, with time to play some games to break up this long day. As 3:00 p.m. came around, everyone said their last good-byes to all the new friends they met, got onto their buses and started leaving. As they were leaving I heard some really great comments about how FCCLA really is amazing and has given them a path to follow.  I really hope to see them in this red jacket one day!

Chapter Spotlight: Region 14

This week's post is from Sheresa Groves, Vice President of Occupational Membership. 

This week we focus on the Region 14 Regional Meeting.

On October 14, 2010 history was in the making with Region 14’s first annual regional leadership conference. The 2008-09 Missouri FCCLA State Executive Council made history on December 8, 2008 during their Winter State Executive Council Meeting. After receiving a proposal supported by twenty-two (22) Kansas City area chapters, the State Executive Council voted to accept their proposal to establish a new Missouri FCCLA Region - officially Region 14! On Monday, June 15 2009, twenty-one people met to begin the process of organizing Region 14. One of the main topics was the boundary line for the new region. It was decided to include the counties of Jackson, Clay, and part of Cass.

The first Region 14 Regional Meeting was held at Belton High School in Belton, Missouri. As our day went launching into new leadership experiences, the region officers hosted a birthday party for the 65th year of Missouri FCCLA. We started our day of with the opening ceremony, where our officers gave their reports and a funny skit preformed to inform people with some of FCCLA’s history. Then we broke out into workshops, some including: FACTS, Culinary Arts, how to run for office, STOP the Violence, President’s Ultimate Leadership, Children’s Miracle Network, fundraising, and many more. Afterwards everyone had lunch catered by Belton High School’s ProStart program. At the end of the day we all gathered for our closing ceremony, where we gave awards for many different contests, and recognition for STAR event participants for 2009-2010. Following rewards was the guest speaker, Mike from R5 Productions, with a wonderful presentation. In all it was an amazing experience launching Region 14 into action for the first time. I am honored to be a part of this history.