EUGENE, Mo. - Less than one year ago, Eugene High School started an FCCLA chapter, and already a two-member team recently returned with a gold award from the national competition.
Senior Breanna Kempker and junior Molly Kraus developed an entry in the Life Event Planning category, where they explained how they prepared for and delivered the Junior High Winter Ball as a drug- and alcohol-free social event.
Their scores at the regional, state and national level were a combination of their portfolio, showing how they secured a location, purchased decorations on a budget and the advantages of the event, with their oral presentation before the judges, said sponsor Sonya Forck.
"It took awhile for it to sink in," Forck said when they learned they were advancing to nationals. "We are in our first year of competing, and we're going to nationals!"
Several area schools have an FCCLA chapter, but not all of them compete, she said. Forck hopes their success will encourage other schools to be involved more.
"I enjoyed meeting new people from around the United States, and talking about new ways to help build our chapter was amazing," Kempker said. "After going to nationals, hopefully we can encourage more people to join FCCLA now that they realize how fun it can be and the amazing experiences that come with it."
FCCLA is a career-technical organization which offers students a way to use their family and consumer science classroom lessons.
The Eugene chapter had about a dozen members in its first year. It took four teams to the regional competition, and two teams advanced to the state level, where they both earned gold awards. However, the Life Event Planning team received the top score in the state, allowing it to advance to nationals.
Entering its second year, Forck said she hopes Kempker and Kraus will be leaders for the new members coming in.
The new program offers Eugene students the opportunity to expand their public speaking abilities. Forck said she has been pleased to see how much members have grown in just the first year.
"Competing in FCCLA has allowed me to develop leadership skills that I can carry on throughout my life," Kraus said. "When we started I had no confidence in speaking in front of people.
"I still get nervous, but now I feel much more comfortable speaking in front of others."
The young chapter also participated in FCCLA's 70th anniversary celebration at the Capitol, where about 6,000 members statewide gathered to advocate for family and consumer science curriculum and for continued funding of career and technical programs.
FCCLA, founded in 1945, has a national membership of more than 200,000 in nearly 6,500 chapters in 52 state associations, including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
It is the only career and technical education organization with the family as its central focus. Currently, Missouri FCCLA has 10,592 members in 329 local chapters, ranking as the fifth-largest FCCLA state association in the nation.