For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — Students from two local Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) chapters recently earned recognition among middle and high schoolers from across the United States.

The 2017 FCCLA National Leadership Conference was held in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, July 1-6 and had a theme of “Unlimited possibilities.” Almost 7,000 FCCLA members attended the meeting to compete in various events and gain leadership skills.

Tara Guden and Tiffany Guden, who just graduated from Marshfield High School, earned the top gold medals in the nation for a Life Event Planning project where they were asked to manage the costs of a life event. They created a plan for their graduation party on a budget using consumer skills learned in Consumer and Personal Finance class, and they actually carried out their plan with their own graduation party on June 10.

From left: Senior Josh Zogleman and sophomores Lydia Sanken, Sarah Downs, and Laney Garrels from Pittsville High School presented projects at the 2017 FCCLA National Leadership Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee, July 1-6.

Alani Carter was an eighth-grader at Marshfield Middle School, and she participated in Promote and Publicize FCCLA. She used communication skills to keep middle schoolers up to date on chapter events, help her chapter grow, and promote the mission of the FCCLA organization. She earned a bronze award.

Marshfield Middle School seventh-graders Cierra MacArthur and Simone Chaney competed in the Illustrated Talk event. They had spoken to Marshfield Middle School health classes, seventh-grade family and consumer science classes, and at an FCCLA meeting about the importance of healthy eating and using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s My Plate. They earned silver awards on their project.

Pittsville High School sophomores Sarah Downs, Lydia Sanken, and Laney Garrel’s project was in the category of Focus on Children. They chose to plan and conduct a project that would have a positive impact on children and their community, which they decided to call The Importance of Play.

The group researched the importance of physical activity, looked at how much physical activity Pittsville Elementary students were having in a day, conducted an afterschool dance party, and developed a book of 15 “Brain Break” games for teachers to help their students get active instead of dozing off or daydreaming during class. Downs, Sanken, and Garrel earned gold awards on their project.

Pittsville High School senior Josh Zogelman’s category was Interpersonal Communications. He was challenged to develop a project that would strengthen communication skills with his teammates in sports. His project was based around seven key pillars that ensure positive and efficient communication, which would create the optimal atmosphere for teamwork. Zogelman’s partner in this project, Matthew Carlson, was unable to attend the national conference, where Zogelman earned a silver award.

The goal of FFCLA is to prepare young adults for careers, promote personal growth, and develop 21st-century skills learned in family and consumer science courses.