Introduction

Before you begin reading this chapter, click on the link below to watch a video that provides a glimpse into the “Ultimate Leadership Experience”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-LRWYt9-Nc&feature=emb_logo

Source: Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America.

Creating learning experiences that connect classroom learning to real life is one of the most important things family and consumer sciences teachers can do to help their students prepare for the future. While these experiences can occur in many different ways both inside and outside the classroom, one of the most effective ways is to provide students with the opportunity to join a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO). This chapter serves as an introduction to Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), the CTSO associated with Family and Consumer Sciences. A CTSO is defined as an organization that fosters “intra-curricular opportunities for students to further develop their technical, academic and employability skills. Through service learning projects and contests on local, state and national levels, students develop confidence, learn and practice leadership, and perfect their technical and academic skills” (CTE Clearing House, 2015).

Key Terms to Know

Adviser

Affiliation

Chapter

CTSO

FCCLA

FCCLA Planning Process

Intra-Curricular

National Programs

Program of Work

STAR Events

History of FCCLA

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), formerly known as Future Homemakers of America (FHA), was established June 11, 1945.

• Central to its development was a focus on being student led and having the family as its main focus.
• At its founding, the organization strived to be one that is led by students and that focused mainly on the family.

During the early decades of the organization, many schools operated under racial segregation, and for some students, participating in FHA was not an option. As a result, the New Homemakers of America (NHA) was formed for African American students in 16 states with segregated schools. In July of 1965, the FHA and NHA organizations merged to form one body called FHA. The peak of membership for the organization was in 1966 when over 600,000 students were nationally affiliated. FHA expanded in 1971 to include Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) chapters—chapters with an occupational preparation focus—resulting in the organization being called FHA/HERO. During the next 28 years, FHA/HERO built a permanent national headquarters, created STAR events, and began holding national cluster meetings in addition to the annual national leadership meeting.

In 1999, after much debate, the voting delegates of FHA/HERO voted at their national meeting in Boston, MA, to change the name of the organization to Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) in order to reflect the changing opportunities for youth through the organization. This decision also reflected the name change of the profession from Home Economics to Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS), which occurred in 1993.

FCCLA Today

From its inception, FCCLA was designed to support the FCS curriculum; as such, it is considered a vital part of the FCS classroom learning experience. This means that FCCLA programs, projects, and events integrate seamlessly into the FCS classroom and reflect the National Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences. FCCLA can be used in various ways to support the goals of family and consumer sciences. Incorporating FCCLA into your daily classroom activities is the best way to ensure that your students are getting all the benefits of FCCLA. The FCCLA Planning Process is central to all programs and events. Resources supporting classroom integration are described in the following section.

National Programs

FCCLA currently has eight national programs (Appendix A) for member participation. The goal of each of these programs is to create future leaders within families, careers, and communities, as well as educate participants, peers, and community members on specific issues, such as traffic safety, relationship violence, and healthy lifestyles. A unique aspect of many of the projects is the focus on peer education—peers educating one another about topics that are important to them. National projects also provide opportunities for members to plan and implement service learning experiences. These lesson plans to incorporate National Programs into the classroom (http://fcclainc.org/advisers/lessonplans-and-activities.php) provide resources to help you begin integrating the national programs into your classroom. In addition to enriching the classroom environment, members who implement these projects can receive recognition at the state and national levels and have the potential to win monetary awards for their schools or scholarships for postsecondary education.

STAR Events

Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Events are competitive events that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge in a specific content area within family and consumer sciences in a variety of ways. Students compete in these events at the local, regional, state, and national levels throughout the year. There are both individual and team events.

As an adviser, it is important to identify your students’ strengths and weaknesses in order to help them choose the best competitive event to enter. Using the following link, you can find brief Star Event Descriptions http://fcclainc.org/programs/star-event-descriptions.php. Many veteran advisers encourage students to find an event that is related to one of their FCS classes, but this is not a requirement unless the student is competing as an occupational participant in an occupational event. One way to prepare your students for competition is to use the STAR Event guidelines and accompanying rubrics as assignments within the classroom setting. There are several benefits to students completing the event as a class assignment. Not only will students have firsthand knowledge of the STAR Event, they will also be able to work on their events during class time. Additionally, as the teacher, you will be able assess them using the rubrics and provide feedback for improvement prior to competition.

Having students compete in STAR Events for the first time can be a daunting task; however, there are many resources to help students get the most out of the events. Videos with demonstrations of the events can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgdGjgLJbMLtj2VCOrAV_ qobs1d0Rp1J4. This site has videos that were filmed at the National FCCLA meeting in 2013 and can serve as models for you and your students. In addition, rubrics and guidelines are included in the Competitive Events Manual found on the national FCCLA website from September to November. After November 1st, the Competitive Events Manual will only be accessible through the membership portal. (Note: Check this manual each year for changes and updates on the current competitive events).

The FCCLA Planning Process

The FCCLA Planning Process uses five steps to help members and advisers research, plan, implement and evaluate projects. The five steps are: Identify Concerns, Set a Goal, Form a Plan, Act, and Follow Up. Utilizing these five steps in planning activities within the classroom and the FCCLA organization can help students to become more independent in their everyday decision-making processes. Plus, the steps will help them create projects that have been well planned. You can find a fillable PDF of the FCCLA Planning Process here: http://fcclainc.org/pdf/ planning_process_summary_page_template.pdf

Starting a Chapter

There are key steps that should be considered when starting an FCCLA chapter. First and foremost, you should understand the duties of being a chapter adviser and commit to undertaking them. Once you embrace this role, you should discuss your decision with your school administration to gain their support, especially if you are starting a new chapter in your FCS program. Administrator support is important for the overall success of your chapter. Additionally, some schools provide local funds to support student activities and/or provide stipends for advisers. This might not be the case in your district, but you should determine this prior to starting your chapter. The New Adviser Handbook located on the FCCLA website under the Adviser tab is a great place to get the facts on starting your own FCCLA chapter.

Chapter Organization

The next step is to decide how the chapter will be organized—an intra-curricular chapter (in-class), anafter school chapter, or a combination of the two (in-class and after school). Making this decision will dictate the rest of your decisions in setting up and running your FCCLA chapter.

In an intra-curricular chapter, activities occur within the classroom setting, and all classroom members are considered members of the organization. An example of how to set up an intracurricular chapter can be found in Appendix B: Five Easy Steps to Starting an Intra-Curricular FCCLA Chapter. Benefits of integrating FCCLA in FCS courses include:

• All students receiving the leadership opportunities provided by FCCLA.
• More effective time management for the chapter adviser.
• Reduced scheduling issues for students.
• Opportunities for experiential learning. FCCLA projects provide opportunities for student to apply the FCS curriculum to real life. For example, the Student Body National Program Guide provides curriculum materials to supplement courses focused on nutrition, healthy food preparation, and personal wellness.
• Assessment of classroom learning. STAR Events can be used as a culminating project at the end of a unit or combination of units to assess students. Each event includes learning objectives, directions, planning sheets, and a rubric that can be used for grading. In other words, STAR Events are pre-planned projects ready for you to use with your learning experiences, and they can be easily assessed.
• Evidence of addressing the National Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences. All FCCLA projects and STAR Events address the national standards (FCCLA, 2008).

An after school chapter has regular meeting outside of regular classroom time and the members are comprised of students who are currently or formerly enrolled in FCS classes. There are many different configurations for this type of chapter, especially if you have more than one teacher in your school. The benefits of an after school chapter include:

• More time after school to complete projects and prepare STAR Events.
• Opportunities for former students who are not currently enrolled to maintain their memberships.
• Collaborative advising responsibilities for FCS programs with multiple teachers.
• Recruitment of self-motivated members to join FCCLA and participate in activities.

Ideally, a combination of the intra-curricular and the after school chapters is the best way to impact the most students. Benefits of this structure include all of the above.

Whether or not you establish an intra-curricular or after school chapter, you will need to ensure your members are affiliated, i.e., paid their dues, at the state and national levels so that they can receive the maximum benefits of membership. Any student in grades 6-12 who has completed or is currently enrolled in an FCS course in middle school or high school is eligible to be a member of FCCLA. This means that, as an adviser, you could have members in your chapter that you have never taught, especially in a multiple teacher department. Therefore, you might need to make extra effort to communicate with these students to encourage their continued participation and membership. The affiliation process and membership information including the current dues are explained on the National FCCLA website, www. fcclainc.org.

Recruiting Members

After deciding what kind of chapter you want to have, the next step is to recruit, recruit, and recruit some more! There are many ways to recruit members within the school setting. Some suggestions from former and current FCCLA advisers are:

• Directly teach the benefits of membership in a leadership unit. See Appendix C for an example of the unit block plan.
• Set-up a recruitment table at lunch.
• Create a bulletin board or display case with FCCLA information.
• Invite a Regional or State Officer to speak at your meeting or in your classroom about the importance and fun of being involved in FCCLA.
• Give a reward to students for turning in their dues by a certain date. Rewards may include a dollar off their dues, an FCCLA notepad or pen, entrance into a drawing for a bigger prize, etc.
• Post announcements in the school’s daily announcements.
• Connect chapter projects and events to the interests of students.
• Plan exciting meetings and fun social events to attract new members.
• Reward a member for bringing a new recruit to a meeting.

With each of these suggestions, remember that as an adviser, your best asset for recruitment is actually the current membership of your chapter. Members are the ones who are most knowledgeable about FCCLA and the impact it can have on other students. If you are establishing a new chapter in your school, then you might invite chapter members from nearby schools to share their experiences with your students.

Program of Work

Once you have recruited new members and affiliated your chapter, it is important to establish a program of work with your chapter’s plans for meetings, events, and activities that will be implemented throughout the year. A program of work is an outline of all the goals and activities that a chapter wants to accomplish during the year, and it provides the steps necessary to accomplish the goals and activities. An organized program of work should include the following:

• Chapter formation and maintenance activities (officer elections, membership drives, social events)
• Project planning, preparation, implementation, and evaluation
• A chapter budget
• Plans for fundraising
• Public relations and communications
• Participation in district/region, state, and national programs and events
• Recognition and celebration (FCCLA, 2008).

Because FCCLA is a student-led organization, chapter officers and current members should prepare the program of work with the guidance of the chapter adviser. If members are more involved in planning the chapter’s program of work, they will be more likely to exhibit the leadership needed to implement the local plans. A written program of work also helps your students understand their opportunities for involvement. Further, this plan can illustrate to your administration and parents the important role FCCLA has in promoting student leadership, service, and preparation for college and career. The five-step Planning Process described earlier in this chapter is a tool that members can use to plan the details of the major events, projects, and activities included in the chapter’s program of work.

CTE Month/ FCCLA Week

A critical component of your chapter’s program of work is a plan for National FCCLA Week. February is national CTE month, and as a part of this month, FCCLA has designated the second week of February as National FCCLA Week. These times are ideal opportunities to promote and publicize your local chapter. The National FCCLA website has many resources that can help you with this endeavor, including information on the focus for each day of FCCLA week and suggestions on how to integrate these projects into your classroom. More information on FCCLA week and CTE Month can be found at http://fcclainc.org/news–media/fccla-week.php.

Publicizing and Promoting FCCLA  

While National FCCLA Week is an important time to publicize your chapter locally, this opportunity doesn’t come about until February; therefore, as an adviser, you need to be proactive in promoting and publicizing throughout the year. The FCCLA website provides resources for publicity, including The FCCLA Branding and Promotion Guide, found under the Adviser tab. Additionally, the website provides examples of how local chapters are using media outlets—traditional and social—to promote FCCLA.

Members can be your best form of promotion. They are often eager to share their experiences with others, especially through social media. To direct their publicity efforts, you might encourage them to participate in the following activities:

• Write news articles and press releases in your courses about the chapter activities and family and consumer sciences learning experiences.
• Create a chapter blog.
• Complete the Speak Out for FCCLA unit in Power of One.
• Compete in the Promote and Publicize FCCLA STAR Event or the FCCLA Chapter Website STAR Event.

Fundraising

Fundraising goes hand-in-hand with publicizing and promoting your FCCLA chapter; it is an essential part of helping students succeed because funding allows your students more opportunities for participation. It is important to create a budget for the year before fundraising. A budget should also be included in the local program of work. Creating a budget and developing fundraising plans will help students know how much money is needed for their planned activities, and it will motivate members to participate in fundraising activities throughout the year. Fundraising can come in many different forms and doesn’t always have to be the students creating things to sell. The first place to start when thinking about fundraising is http://fcclainc.org/pdf/ Fundraising%20Tips.pdf. Additionally, many other great ideas can be found at http://justfacs.com/ your-ctso/fundraising/.

Before beginning to fundraise, it is critical for you to know the fundraising regulations fundraising that your school, district, and state may have. For example, some school districts have limits on how many fundraisers can be implemented within a school each year, and some districts may limit the total number of fundraisers to a set number per school. If you are in this situation, then there will be competition between sports, the arts, and other CTSOs for these fundraising opportunities; therefore, creativity will be important. Teaching classes that have an entrepreneurship component where practical application is a required part of the curriculum can generate local funds. For example, the culinary arts classes can prepare teacher lunches one day a week and the profits generated from the lunches can fund local chapter activities.

Another suggestion for fundraising that is often underutilized is writing grants for needed funds. Here’s a list of a few outlets for possible grant opportunities:

• ECOLAB grants (regional); http://www.ecolab.com/about/corporate-responsibility/community-involvement/apply-for-a-grant/other-us-locations
• Edutopia’s Big List of Educational Grants and Resources;  https://www.edutopia.org/blog/grants-fundraising-tech-integration-mary-beth-hertz
• Lowe’s Toolbox for Education; http://www.toolboxforeducation.com/
• NEA Foundation Grants to Educators; https://www.neafoundation.org/for-educators/other-grant-fellowship-opportunities/
• State Farm® Student Achievement Grants; https://www.statefarm.com/about-us/community-involvement/better-educated-communities
• Target Company Educational Grants; https://corporate.target.com/corporate-responsibility/community/philanthropy/grants-faqs
• YSA Youth Changing the World; http://www.ysa.org/grants

In contrast, websites like http://www.donorschoose.org or www.gofundme.com are a good alternative to fundraising all together. These sites give donors the option to donate money to an organization without having to purchase products. Many sites like www.donorschoose.org and www. gofundme.com take a small percentage of the donations received, so be sure to read the fine print before choosing one of these methods of fundraising.

Support Materials

The national FCCLA website has a plethora of resources available to advisers to help you get started. Visit http://fcclainc.org/advisers/chapter-advisers.php to access the chapter adviser section of the FCCLA website. This section has handouts that explain FCCLA and its benefits to students and parents and a newsletter called The Adviser, which is produced to encourage and empower advisers within their chapters.

When concerns about advising a chapter arise, whether they are about affiliating a chapter or competing in STAR Events, it is best to contact the state adviser in your state. Whether you are starting a new chapter or taking over the advising of an existing chapter, you should reach out to your state adviser so that he or she can get to know you, answer your questions, and support you in the advising role. An interactive map with contact information for each state adviser is located at http://fcclainc.org/membership/state-membership-info.php.

Teen Times, the official magazine of FCCLA, is produced quarterly during the school year. This magazine is one benefit of membership and focuses on student leadership and encouraging chapter members to go above and beyond with leadership and service. Ideas for leadership opportunities and service projects can be found on every page of the magazine. In addition, there is a Teaching with Teen Times lesson plan that is placed on the membership portal after each Teen Times is released.

Summary

One of the most rewarding parts of being an FCS teacher is seeing your students grow into leaders that help shape the lives of others. By incorporating FCCLA into your classroom experiences, students are afforded with leadership opportunities on a daily basis. There are many challenges that go along with being an adviser; however, studies have shown that participation in FCCLA and other intra-curricular activities boost students’ academic achievement. Becoming an FCCLA adviser is one of the most exciting and rewarding thing that we as FCS teachers can do to promote our profession. When students see our passion for FCCLA and the FCS profession, they are more motivated to be involved, which can translate into increased learning. As an FCS teacher and FCCLA adviser, it is our responsibility to educate and empower future leaders. By doing so, we uphold a legacy that has spanned over 70 years of history and will, hopefully, continue for many more decades.

References

CTE Clearinghouse. (2015). CTE Clearinghouse: Career and Technical Student Organizations. Retrieved from https://www.acteonline.org/career-and-technical-student-organizations-make-cte-work/

FCCLA. (2008). Planning a chapter program of work. The FCCLA Guide to Preparing Future Advisers (CD Rom). FCCLA: Reston, VA.

FCCLA. (2015). www.fcclainc.org.