On January 19, Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) participated in a regional competition at Missouri State. Participants competed in events including Say Yes to FCS Education, Baking and Pastries, Food Innovations, Sports Nutrition, Teach and Train, Hospitality and Tourism, Fashion Design, and Fashion Construction. 

   Out of the 19 members who competed in STAR events, 14 of them placed gold and advanced to the state conference in March. 

   Preparing their own competitions was nothing easy. 

   “Depending on the person, some worked for months ahead of competition time, spending hours to create their display boards, outfits or digital presentations,” FCCLA Advisor Mrs. Bones said. 

Congratulations to all the state qualifiers: Kelea Martin, Kaci perry, Bella Cooper, Kinleigh Rose, Makayla Trieu, Aubree Williams, Carissa Antonidis, Malida Dexter, Allie Moore, Aubree Nesbitt, Jaelyn Dill, London Funk, Haile Reed, and Madison Turner.

Kelea Martin (12) – Vice President of STAR Events

   “My event was Fashion Construction! There are multiple levels depending on what grade you’re in. Since I was a senior, I was in level three. Being in fashion construction, I had to create a dress or a garment and take it to competition and talk all about it. It took me a lot of time to gather my information, make the dress, and not only get my items to construct the garment. I would have to say it started at the beginning of the year when I eventually started coming up with ideas, but I honestly didn’t work on it every single day. I would say that I worked about 15 hours in total. My position is being a Vice President of Membership and STAR Events. STAR Events is actually our competition. Going to state means that we take the same exact thing that we did at regionals to state and compete against all the other regions. In the state of Missouri, we actually have 14 regions. You are actually allowed to remake whatever you did at regionals to make it better. If you were wanting to redo your presentation board or even the whole project you can, I’m actually doing that currently where I am creating a new dress as well as a new presentation board,” Martin said. 

Kaci Perry (12) – Vice President of Fundraising and Volunteering 

   “My event was Interior Design level three. I started preparing for my event in October and I did not completely finish until the 2nd week of January. I am Vice President of volunteerism and fundraising. Going to state can mean a few things. However, the main thing means you present your project again at a higher level, but this time you have a lot more competition from all over the state. Most people will not completely redo their project as that would take too long. However, like myself they will take the critiques the judges gave them at regionals to better their project. The way I am changing my project is by redoing my display boards. I am not changing anything about the actual project since I am happy with how it came out. However, I do think I can make my boards look better and have more information. Another important thing to have for state is your speech memorized as they will take points off if you read from note cards at the higher levels,” Perry said.