Lancaster FCCLA gaining popularity

By Anna Jauhola
Independence, leadership, growth and more have driven the success of Lancaster School’s reborn FCCLA organization. The district hired teacher Laura McNeill as the FCCLA adviser last year and with hard work from her and the core group, the organization has grown to nearly 20 students in its second year. There are kids participating from every grade from seventh through 12th.
“It’s about leadership and organizing events, getting the community together but also learning how to fundraise,” McNeill said. “Looking at what careers would look like, and doing some competition events too.”
Although McNeill has never been involved in FCCLA, she said the passion of community service within the organization made her want to be a part of it. FCCLA stands for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. The organization supports schools that have family and consumer science (FCS) classes, according to the national FCCLA website.
Over the last year and a half, the group has held dances, shopping and gift wrapping, movies and other events, along with raffles, to raise money and gain experience working on projects.
The money raised goes directly to the group’s activities such as a trip to the state Capitol in St. Paul, STAR Events competitions and even national conferences.
“The STAR events are Students Taking Action with Recognition,” said Miranda Peterson, Lancaster FCCLA president. “The recognition part is us going to state and going further with FCCLA.”
McNeill said STAR projects focus on recognizing needs within a community and forming a project around that need. Vice President Ellie Bernstrom is working on a STAR project to incorporate more popular books in the school’s library to help inspire more reading. This idea came as the state required the READ Act last year.
Peterson’s project this year is centered on event planning, so she created the Princess Night, which has been rescheduled to January. She used Thrivent Action Funds to help her pay for the event so it is pure profit for the group.
Another member organized a gift shopping and wrapping event prior to Christmas, which is centered on entrepreneurship. A seventh grader has focused on obtaining information from other districts on how to improve Lancaster’s MCA scores. McNeill said she will share worksheets, ideas and other documents in a digital drive. This is the Teach to Learn category.
While the public only sees the students’ end products of these events, the work leading up to that is where the girls have found growth.
“I think I just gained more leadership abilities,” Peterson said. “I had to step out of my comfort zone; being able to help people without just doing it for them. It’s learning how to change my wording or teaching skills to help the younger students.”
Learning how to guide the younger students in their STAR projects has made Peterson the natural president of this group. She even has her own desk in the corner of McNeill’s classroom.
“I probably say, ‘Ask Miranda,’ in every other sentence. Or, ‘Put it on Miranda’s desk,’” McNeill said.
During this interview, McNeill remembered the need to order two more red jackets for Secretary Melody Voeltz and Treasurer Taylor Brown.
“Notice how she looked at me for that,” Peterson said with a smile, as she made a note on her dry-erase desk to order the jackets.
The group meets during lunch, which is a good time to ensure younger students are more focused and listen. The events FCCLA students plan and execute each raise money for the group’s activities and dues. McNeill said FCCLA pays $25 per student to the state organization. This fundraising helped pay for Peterson’s and Bernstrom’s trip to Anaheim, Calif., for a national FCCLA conference at Disneyland. McNeill said they had to apply for the conference, and she was approved as a chaperone.
Peterson and Bernstrom said their group included several people from Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma, but two students were from Warren and a few from the Twin Cities area. The two-day event taught the girls about teamwork and leadership.
“On the day we learned about teamwork, we learned about the movie Cars and how they related it to how Disney uses teamwork,” Peterson said. “Then for leadership, we went through the actual ropes of being a leader at Disney – the actual aspect of each job. That’s something the average person wouldn’t get out of Disney.”
This was a big event for Peterson as she’s a senior set to graduate in May. Bernstrom is a junior and has the chance to attend a national event again before she graduates.
Whether it’s the national, state or local level, FCCLA members are gaining useful real-world skills. Bernstrom specifically is gaining independence and confidence. McNeill said Bernstrom’s enthusiasm for FCCLA was low-level when she joined last school year.
“She said, ‘I don’t want to do it. It’s just too much work. I’m not going to do it.’ And now, she lives for it. Honestly it’s something she’s passionate about,” McNeill said.
Bernstrom agreed, noting event planning is her favorite as she gets to make sure things are organized. She’s learned how to efficiently follow through and not let things drop. Her STAR project was organizing the FCCLA’s Holiday Festivities, which included the Christmas shop for kids, a wrapping station, along with crafts and movies in the gym. This event was on Saturday, Dec. 14 and hosted more than 30 people during the six-hour window.
“I’m so excited for this,” Bernstrom said before the event. “Just having organized it is exciting. All these boxes of supplies in this room, I’ve made sure to get them together. Miranda’s helped too.”
Bernstrom admits to being very introverted, and FCCLA has helped her dive out of her comfort zone one step at a time. She was nervous about flying to California and being in such an urban area. Although the traffic was shocking, upon arrival they decided to hire a bus driver for the weekend. That helped ease any anxiety that would have come with renting a car.
As the program’s popularity increases, McNeill said she’s confident it is on solid footing to successfully continue. Whether participants organize local events, gain recognition at the regional and state competitions, or even move on to a national conference, this organization has found its niche at Lancaster School.