Maggie Wartick
The FCCLA group from AHS traveled to Cedar Rapids from Sunday, March 17th, through Tuesday, March 19th, for State FCCLA. The members who attended include Ashley Cantu, Abby Brooks, Sydney Seebecker, Maggie Wartick, Faith Zeller, Kaitlyn Burns, Lainey Venteicher, Caitlin Louscher, Hillary Holmes, Gabby Venteicher, and Sienna Fehr. The theme of the event this year was “Walk in Their Shoes,” focusing on childhood cancer.
Sunday night, the girls got together and practiced their presentations with each other. They gave feedback on how to make their presentation stronger. Senior, Ashley Cantu, said, “I loved it and had so much fun!”
Monday was the day of the competition. The members have been working on their Star Event projects all school year and finally had the opportunity to share them. They were judged by a panel of three judges and one student judge. They were judged on the presentation and how it impacted their community. Two members also participated in an Iowa Event. Gabby Venteicher and Sienna Fehr worked together on decorating a cake that displayed the theme “Walking in Their Shoes.”
Tuesday was the awards day. They started the morning by attending breakout sessions, where they learned about projects and activities that the Algona FCCLA Chapter can participate in. After lunch, they attended the award ceremony. Star Event participants are judged on a scale of gold, silver, and bronze.
Cantu and Brooks worked together on a chapter review project and received a silver. Kaitlyn Burns and Lainey Venteicher presented the fundraising projects the AHS chapter has done this year, receiving a bronze. Wartick and Seebecker also worked together on a project about how it is important for younger kids to have role models. Their project received gold and earned them a spot at Nationals. Louscher presented about the mental health concert that she organized earlier this year and received a bronze. Finally, Holmes covered a project over food assistance programs, and she received a bronze. Fehr and Gabby Venteicher participated in an Iowa Event that has placings for the top three and they received third place. For their Iowa Event, they decorated a cake and had to share what they learned during their experience.
To finish out the 2023-2024 year, the AHS FCCLA chapter will have an April meeting where they will elect next year’s officers and recap their year.