The FCCLA group traveled to Cedar Rapids for a State Leadership Conference from Sunday, March 26th, to Tuesday, March 28th. The theme for the conference this year was Shine a Light, for mental health awareness month. The members who attended this conference were Maggie Wartick, Sydney Seebecker, Abby Brooks, Paige Vileta, Ashley Cantu, Katelyn Burns, Caitlin Louscher, Lainey Venteicher, and Hillary Holmes.
On Sunday evening, they kicked off with an introduction of officers and a keynote speaker, who gave a motivational speech about how to handle stressors and challenges in our lives.
Monday was a competition day, where each of the attendees presented their projects they have been working on. Maggie Wartick, Sydney Seebecker, Ashley Cantu, and Caitlin Louscher did a STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) event and Katelyn Burns, Lainey Venteicher, Abby Brooks, and Hillary Holmes competed in Iowa Events. Students also attended breakout sessions on a variety of topics. In the evening, they had time for socialization and a glow dance was held for all participants.
Tuesday morning, the group attended a district meeting for the Prairie Lakes District and Ashley Cantu was introduced as a district officer. They next created gratitude jars, and there were more breakout sessions before lunch. The last activity they participated in was the presentation of awards. All of the members did very well, with the top award going to Ashley Cantu for her Chapter Year in Review display project. It received a gold rating and qualified for Nationals. Nationals are July 2nd through the 6th in Denver, Colorado. Lainey Venteicher, a member of FCCLA, states, “Join FCCLA today!”