FCCLA sets teens on career paths, Celina Record

Celina FCCLA chapter members prepare for regional conference Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Jan 21, 2016 0 An error in Maria Quiroz’s high school course schedule may have set her on a path toward achieving success later in life. The Celina High School senior recently recalled when, in 2014, she was mistakenly enrolled in a class at the school called Human Growth and Development. It is included among a category of courses called Family and Consumer Sciences, which covers subjects traditionally tackled in what has for years been commonly referred to as home economics, among others. “I was thinking about switching (out of the class), but I heard more about it, and I actually got into it,” Quiroz said. Through the class, she was introduced to and became a member of the school’s chapter of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), a national career and technical organization that focuses on developing students’ leadership skills while providing opportunities for personal growth and career preparation. Quiroz has since served in a number of positions with Celina High’s FCCLA chapter, which boasts 72 members. This year, she is one of its officers. In February, Quiroz and her classmate, fellow chapter officer Maddie Brown, will travel to Waco to attend FCCLA’s Texas Association Region III meeting. Nearly 2,000 FCCLA members from around Texas are expected to attend. The girls will also participate in a competitive event called “Promote & Publicize FCCLA.” The pair has been preparing for months, spreading word about their chapter throughout the school and the community. Promote and Publicize is one of more than three dozen categories in which regional FCCLA members can compete. Others include life-event planning, job interviewing, fashion construction, and hospitality, tourism and recreation. The Celina girls have made flyers, posters and announcements alerting their schoolmates about FCCLA. They also started a Facebook page and a Twitter handle for the Celina chapter. To boost awareness in the community, they spoke in front of members of the Celina City Council and school board. The experiences laid waste to Quiroz’s fear of public speaking. “Stage fright is like a thing of the past,” she said. Along with other Celina chapter members, Quiroz and Brown have offered their services at various local events. They picked up litter following the Celina Balloon Festival in October; collected 900 cans for a food drive last fall sponsored by the North Texas Food Bank at the State Fair of Texas; and worked as food servers at an awards banquet hosted by the Greater Celina Chamber of Commerce. Quiroz said FCCLA “has helped me a lot. It’s made me more confident in myself. … In my future, I may be needing to speak to people or just tell them my point of view and let them know my ideas, so I feel like this is a way for me to come across and share what I have to say.” Melessa Barbknecht teaches courses in Family and Consumer Sciences and serves as the FCCLA chapter advisor at Celina High School. “It’s not like chess club where you come and play a game,” she said of the local chapter, which hosts guest speakers from the community at its meetings. “We try to make it fun, but still a learning experience.” In advance of the upcoming regional meeting, Celina Mayor Sean Terry has proclaimed Feb. 7-13 as “FCCLA Week” in the city. If Quiroz and Brown place in their category during regionals, they will be eligible to move on to the state competition later this year in Dallas. A win there could send the pair to FCCLA’s national conference scheduled for July in San Diego. Only a handful of students from around the state will be selected to attend the national event. To join FCCLA, students must be enrolled or have previously taken at least one Family and Consumer Sciences course. Student can choose from several at Celina High. In Human Growth and Development (the class Quiroz took), students study the human lifespan from birth thorough geriatrics. In Interpersonal Studies, they learn about family dynamics and other relationships. Budgeting, clothing care and healthy lifestyle choices are among the subjects studied in Principles of Human Services. A Child Development class is also offered. The teens must proceed through an interview process before they’re accepted into a class called Ready, Set, Teach. As part of that course, they travel several days each week to other Celina ISD campuses and work as teachers in training. The hope is that after graduating college, the former students will return to teach in Celina. Brown, 18, helps teach kindergarten students at Celina Elementary School four days each week. “I never pictured myself as a teacher, but (Barbknecht) kind of convinced me to do Ready, Set, Teach, and I’m so glad she did because that’s also helped me get more experience public speaking, working with children, working with teachers,” she said. “It’s kind of stressful, but it’s also kind of fun.” Barbknecht said there is a waiting list for students who wish to take her Family and Consumer Sciences classes. She is working to build the school’s supply of sewing machines, kitchen tools and other gadgets that will assist her in teaching students additional life skills. “What I hear from the kids … is that these are courses and (FCCLA) is an organization that they can actually use in the real world,” Barbknecht said. “They need to know how to go on a job interview, how to write a resume, how to shake a hand, how to set the table, how to sew a button on, how to network.” Outside the classroom, chapter members put many of the skills to practice while participating in FCCLA events, Barbknecht said. “It puts them in a position where they have to research and they have to network and follow directions and be precise.”