Throughout the year, clubs and groups spend time preparing for competitions, whether it be regional, state or national. However, for Family and Future Career Leaders of America (FCCLA), according to adviser Sarah Williams, this year has been an improvement from previous years. For the first time in WFHS history, three members from FCCLA have qualified for the national FCCLA convention July 5-11 in Nashville, Tenn.
Contributing to this success is the amount of active members FCCLA has this year.
“Last year we only had a few kids that were active,” Williams said. “This year we have more that are active and hopefully that continues to grow each week.”
For President Raveena Goyal, an improvement in FCCLA is seen by the amount of work everyone puts into the program. Goyal has been in FCCLA for two years and just within that time period she states she has seen a large increase in the amount of active members. Goyal is hoping FCCLA members from Sheyenne Ninth Grade Center will also contribute in the following years.
“Sheyenne has quite a few active members and all of them seem interested in continuing through high school, so I am thinking we will have even more members next year,” Goyal said.
Throughout the year, FCCLA members have competed at the regional and state level, but never at the national level. Sophomores Logan Ahern, Marisa Pacella, and Abby Hesse are the first students from North Dakota to qualify for the national convention after winning first place in their competitions.
Williams said she is very proud of not only the three who made it to nationals, but everyone’s hard work.
“It’s really fun to see everyone going to state and progressing,” Wiliams said. “Even if they do not advance, it’s fun to see them build their confidence. The competition part is really fun and seeing their leadership skills within the organization and watching them develop is great.”
The three students who qualified for nationals have left a great impact on FCCLA, according to Goyal.
“It’s really cool to go to nationals, but I kind of feel like I get this fun event because it’s the kids that do all the work to do the projects to get to be able to go,” Williams said. “I kind of am just along for the ride and to support them whenever I can.”
FCCLA gives back throughout the year and raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network. Junior Krystal Holmes believes everything they do is fun and worth the hard work.
“When we volunteer, we are usually doing it for a good cause or fundraising for around the school and for Childrens Miracle Network,” Holmes said. “At a state level, North Dakota raised around 40,000 dollars so its kind of cool that we were a part of it.”
Both Goyal and Holmes think FCCLA is an organization students should join to learn leadership skills and hope next year more students will become a part of FCCLA.
“FCCLA really opens your eyes to the community,” Goyal said. “It makes you want to volunteer.”