After constant hard work and dedication, FCCLA members walk into the conference room, waiting anxiously to present weeks’ worth of blood, sweat, and tears. From Feb. 6-8, 2025, Texas High’s FCCLA club traveled to Waco, Texas, to compete in the Regional Leadership Conference.
Stepping onto the stage at the FCCLA Regional Leadership Conference, hundreds of members prepare to receive recognition and awards after competing in their designated category.
“In the past, all of our students [advanced] to state,” Texas High FCCLA adviser Maurice Oldham said. “That was a nice competition, we didn’t have anyone sad because everyone made it to state.”
Club members’ effort and commitment act as a vessel for their success.
“We took more students this year than we did last year, and overall, they did exceptionally well,” Oldham said. “We had four groups [of competitors] last year, [but didn’t take FCS tests]. This year, we had [five groups competing] and 14 students that took a Family Consumer Science test, and [13 out of 14] placed, [receiving] medals.
Witnessing the growth and success of others introduces a new variation of pride and accomplishment. Through the process of preparation, revision, and memorization, constant effort becomes apparent.
“It was inspiring seeing everyone that worked hard to prepare [for FCS tests] get recognized for their accomplishments,” Texas High chapter president Kaylee Potts said. “Some of our members spent weeks and even months preparing, and finding out results together to celebrate as a chapter only made our connections to each other stronger.”
As an adviser, goals provide aspirations for students to aim for and act as a reminder of the effort put in to stay motivated. From advancement and trophies to revisions and critiques, criticism allows for errors to be corrected and improvements annexed.
“Our goal was to make it to state and bring home medals,” Oldham said. “We did that, had the overall service [hours] award [with over 800 hours total], and were the smallest chapter in overall service awards.”
Students competed in categories they were passionate about, which allowed them to thrive and accomplish their goals.
“We did ‘Focus on Children’,” senior Savannah Adams said. “We prepared by making our poster, writing and remembering our speech, and practicing [repeatedly].”
The ins and outs of selecting a competition can prove to be difficult, but when considering an alternative perspective, the process becomes easier.
“We wanted to do something different from normal when you [envision] Focus on Children,” Adams said. “We considered that teenagers can feel like they need to be uplifted, so we decided teenagers would be the best option to have something [unique].
When choosing an event, weighing strengths, interests, and goals plays a vital role in finding the perfect category in which to excel.
“My event was interpersonal communications. I prepared by collecting information about teens and parents, which is what I wanted to [focus on] in my event,” senior Taliyah Gilmore said. “I collected everything I needed to put up a pamphlet together [with tips for] parents and teens to help [improve] communicat[ion].”
Committing time and energy to a project that possesses a personal aspect holds the potential to turn into a mental block or serve as motivation and drive the process until success.
“I’ve experienced [issues when communicating] with my parents so this project has helped me a lot with all of the [research] that I [acquired],” Gilmore said. “The project [introduces ways to] change our relationships between parents and teens [in a] positive [way].”
Even though the process for developing projects is extensive, the hours of effort, planning, and perfecting execution seem to lead back to one common conclusion: forming students into leaders.
Texas High competed in five categories of Family Consumer Science Assessments, five events, and two Power of One students. They returned home with two gold, five silver, and six bronze medals for FCSAs, and four out of five groups of competitors advanced to state.