The Ord FCCLA Chapter recently attended the Nebraska State FCCLA Leadership Conference on April 6th-8th, 2025 in Lincoln, Nebraska. At the conference, Ord had 17 students in attendance. Over 100 Nebraska FCCLA Chapters were in attendance with over 1,500 student members. FCCLA stands for Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America and is a national student-led organization that focuses on career readiness and leadership development skills.
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 . The keynote speaker was Dr. Laymon Hicks, who spoke about overcoming barriers and obstacles in life to be our best selves.
On Monday of the conference, 16 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 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 Orlando, Florida. Our chapter qualified 11 of our participants in STAR Projects for the National Leadership Conference this summer.
In March, our chapter had also found out that we had an additional group of students qualify in Online STAR Event Projects for the National Leadership Conference as well, bringing our total number of nationally qualifying students to 13 students, which is the most students the Ord FCCLA Chapter has qualified in chapter history.
To qualify for Nationals in the regular STAR Event Projects at the state level, 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 who qualified and participated in STAR projects this year include the following:
Alyssa Lawrence, Carmen Wager, and Katrina Cassell- State Champion, Gold Medal in Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation- Level 3: National Qualifier
Lillie Shoemaker & Aracely Negrete- State Champion, Golf Medial in Focus on Children- Level 3: National Qualifier
Daisy Shafer & Kinley Proskocil- State Champion, Gold Medal in Professional Presentaion- Level 1: National Qualifier
Ellie Boettcher & Ella Deden- State Champion, Gold Medal in Chapter Service Project Display- Level 1: National Qualifier
Mya Belad- State Champion, Gold Medal in Repurpose & Redesign- Level 2- National Qualifier
Natalie Lytle- State Champion, Gold Medal in Say Yes to FCS Education- Level 2, National Qualifier
Emerson Yantzie & Macy Sitz- 3rd Place, Gold Medal in Repurpose & Redesign- Level 1
Skylar Kokes- 4th Place, Gold Medal in Job Interview- Level 3
Halle Woolsey- Gold Medal- Career Investigation- Level 2
Azia Giron, & Trinity Chatfield - Gold Medal, FCCLA Instructional Video Design- Level 3, Online STAR Event National Qualifier
At the conference, our chapter was also recognized for increasing membership for this school year. Additionally, Skylar Kokes and Alyssa Lawrence were recognized for their membership recruitment efforts through the Nebraska FCCLA High-Five Award. Our chapter also received a “Gold Chapter Award” for our commitment to providing opportunities for student members to be involved in community events, leadership development, and career-related activities. On Tuesday of the conference, members Trinity Chatfield and Azia Giron competed in a new program that was sponsored by Nebraska Farm to Table called “Innovate the Plate.” For this program, students had to develop, test, and prepare an innovative recipe using beans as the base ingredient. Our students developed a bean salsa recipe and prepared a display as well as their product for judges to evaluate at the state leadership conference.
The Ord FCCLA Chapter is so excited for our thirteen National Qualifiers to again make history for the Ord FCCLA Chapter and community and will be preparing to attend the National Leadership Conference in July hosted in Orlando, Florida. Through FCCLA, students learn vital skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication, public speaking, problem-solving, critical thinking and the value of hard work. Our students who 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 throughout the 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. In return for helping sponsor our student leaders in our community, your business or organization name will be recognized through our social media platforms and on our National Qualifier T-shirts. To keep up to date on all things related to Ord FCCLA, please follow our Facebook page “Ord Public Schools FCCLA Chapter.” For more information about how you or your business can help our local FCCLA Chapter, please contact Rachel Hornickel at rhornickel@ordps.org.
Upcoming FCCLA Events:
FCCLA Egg Your Yard- Submit an order by Friday, April 18th, for our members to deliver and hide Easter Eggs for Easter Sunday!
FCCLA Mini Golf - Hosted in the OHS New Commons Area on Monday, April 21st from 5:00-8:00
Snowcones and Iced Coffee at the JH and HS track meets on April 1st and April 8th
Back Row (L-R): Carmen Wagner, Trinity Chatfield, Azia Giron, Lillie Shoemaker, Ellie Boettcher, Halle Woolsey
Middle Row (L-R): Katrina Cassell, Aracely Negrete, Alyssa Lawrence, Skylar Kokes, Mya Beland, Natalie Lytle
Front Row (L-R): Kinley Proskocil, Macy Sitz, Emerson Yantzie, Daisy Shafer, Ella Deden