The Ord FCCLA Chapter recently attended the Nebraska State FCCLA Leadership Conference on April 2nd-4th, 2024 in Lincoln, Nebraska. At the conference, Ord had 10 students in attendance at the conference, five students that were competing in STAR Event Projects and five students that competed in the Knowledge Bowl. Over 100 Nebraska FCCLA Chapters were in attendance with over 1,500 student members.
At the conference, students had the opportunity to attend break-out sessions to better their leadership and communication skills and network with future colleges, employers and organizations at the FCCLA Opportunity Fair . Ord FCCLA Students also attended a tour of the UNL Scarlet Hotel and Innovation Campus as well as a walking tour of Hudl. The Keynote speaker was Melvin Adams, a former basketball player for the Harlem Globetrotter’s and motivational speaker.
On Monday of the conference, our five students had the opportunity to compete in STAR Projects at the State Level. STAR stands for Students Taking Action with Recognition. The students that participated in STAR Projects have been diligently working on their projects for months and their hard work has definitely paid off. At state, students who participate in STAR Projects have the opportunity to compete for a spot to present and compete at the National FCCLA Leadership Conference this summer in Denver, Colorado. Our chapter had two STAR Projects qualify for the National Leadership Conference at the State Leadership Conference.
In March, our chapter had also found out that we had an additional groups of students qualify in Online STAR Event Projects for the National Leadership Conference as well, bringing our total number of nationally qualifying students to six.
To qualify for Nationals in the regular STAR Event Projects at state, students must receive at least a silver medal and be champion or runner-up in their event and level. In the Online STAR Event Projects, students submit an online link to their project for evaluation and are judged against every chapter in the United States. The top 15 projects in the nation are then invited and qualify to present at the National Leadership Conference.
The students that qualified and participated in STAR projects this year include the following:
Carmen Wager and Aracely Negrete- State Champion, Gold Medal in Chapter in Review- Level 2: National Qualifier
Hannah Klein-State Champion, Gold Medal, Job Interview- Level 3: National Qualifier,
Lillie Shoemaker, Azia Giron, & Avery Ladwig- Gold Medal, FCCLA Chapter Website- Level 2, Online STAR Event National Qualifier
Lacey Pollard-11th Place, Bronze Medal, Professional Presentation- Level 3
Tenley Ramm- 8th Place, Silver Medal, Professional Presentation- Level
Additionally, our chapter had a team of students that competed in the Nebraska Knowledge Bowl, which were Canain Rogers, Lillie Shoemaker, Azia Giron, Avery Ladwig, & Alyssa Lawrence. On Sunday evening, students took a comprehensive knowledge test over Family and Consumer Sciences topics and FCCLA Knowledge. Based on the scores from the preliminary round, the top 8 teams then advanced to the live rounds Monday. The Ord FCCLA Chapter Knowledge Bowl team ended up placing 4th in this competition.
At the conference, our chapter was also reconized for our participation in the Feed Nebraska Program. For this program our FCCLA Chapter partnered with our FBLA Chapter to host a schoolwide food drive this past fall. Additionally, adviser Rachel Hornickel was awarded the ACE Award, which stands for “Advisor Committed to Excellence.”
FCCLA offers many opportunities for students to become better role models and leaders in their communities, schools, and chapters. In December, our own Ord FCCLA Chapter President , Hannah Klein, applied for a Nebraska FCCLA State Officer Candidate position. Later in January, Hannah was informed she was a finalist candidate for the 2023-2024 State Officer Team and was invited to advance to the next stage in the process, which included interviewing and taking an FCCLA knowledge test. At the state leadership conference, Hannah then particiaited in an FCCLA Fishbowl event and gave a prepared speech on stage to the Nebraska chapter voting delegates. Our chapter voting delegate was Aracely Negrete. On Tuesday of the State Leadership Conference, Hannah was installed as the 2023-2024 Nebraska FCCLA State Vice President of Membership for the coming school year. Her position includes maintaining and recruiting members across Nebraska, communicating with chapters across the state, helping lead workshops, and so much more. In Ord FCCLA Chapter history, Hannah is the fourth state officer to represent our chapter, school, and community. We are so proud of her for her outstanding leadership and taking on this new role in FCCLA!
Also, the Ord FCCLA Chapter has two other members that have also chosen to pursue higher leadership positions in FCCLA as well through the Nebraska State Peer Officer Teams (SPOT). In December, Alyssa Lawrence and Carmen Wagner, both current freshman, applied to be a part of the 2023-2024 SPOT officer team. At the Peer Education Conference in February, both Alyssa and Carmen found out that they were finalist candidates for the Community Leader Team and the Family Leader Team of the Nebraska SPOT Council. At the State Leadership Conference, students prepared a speech presentation to give to a panel of judges, interviewed and took an FCCLA knowledge exam as part of the Nebraska FCCLA SPOT application. On Tuesday morning during the closing session, Carmen Wagner was elected to serve as the 2023-2024 Nebraska State Peer Officer Secretary of the Family Leader Team. Alysssa Lawrence was elected to serve as the 2023-2024 Nebraska State Peer Officer Chairperson of the Community Leader Team and the Head Chairperson of the Overall SPOT Council. Over the next year, Alyssa and CArmen will have the opportunity to represent our chapter, community and state at multiple FCCLA Conferences, present at Nebraska District Leadership Conventions, attend FCCLA Meetings as a delegate, and communicate with FCCLA Chapters all across Nebraska. Our chapter is incredibly proud of Alyssa Lawrence and Carmen Wagner for stepping out of theircomfort zone to amplify their leadership potential and represent Nebraska FCCLA as well as the community of Ord.
The Ord FCCLA Chapter is so excited for our six National Qualifiers and three state officers to make history for the Ord FCCLA Chapter and community and will be preparing to attend the National Leadership Conference in July hosted in Denver, Colorado. Through FCCLA, students learn vital skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication, and the value of hard work. Our students that participate in FCCLA will become better leaders in their families, community, future careers and school through their involvement in FCCLA activities. To prepare to attend the conference, students will be fundraising these next few months. Our chapter is also seeking out in-kind donations and sponsorships of any value to help our student members have the opportunity to attend and compete at the National Leadership Conference. For more information about how you or your business can help, please contact Rachel Hornickel at rhornickel@ordps.org.
FCCLA Members attending SLC: Back Row (L-R) - Azia Giron (9th Grade), Carmen Wagner (9th Grade), Cainan Rogers (11th Grade), Avery Ladwig (9th Grade), Lacey Pollard (12th Grade), Hannah Klein (11th Grade). Front Row (L-R)- Alyssa Lawrence (9th Grade), Aracely Negrete (9th Grade), Lillie Shoemaker (9th Grade), Tenley Ramm (7th Grade)
Knowledge Bowl Participants (L-R): Alyssa Lawrence, Avery Ladwig, Lillie Shoemaker, Azia Giron, Cainan Rogers
Nebraska FCCLA State Officers (L-R): Carmen Wagner SPOT Family Leader Team Secretary, Alyssa Lawrence SPOT Community Leader Team Chairperson & Overall SPOT Council Chairperson, Hannah Klein State VP of Membership, Rachel Hornickel Chapter Adviser
Online STAR Event National Qualifiers (L-R)- Avery Ladwig, Lillie Shoemaker, Azia Giron
Hannah Klein- State Champion in Job Interivew, National Qualifier
Aracely Negrete & Carmen Wagner State Champions Chapter in Review Display, National Qualifiers