North Sanpete High School has really stepped up to the plate this year. For the first time in a long time, their chapter is planning on completing a national program together. They are doing Families First this year, and they will be holding family-strengthening activities each month to bring the members of their community closer together. 

They sent three of their members to Nationals in San Antonio this past summer, from which they brought home a silver medal and a gold medal.

They have a great chapter presidency this year, and they are looking forward to a fantastic year in FCCLA as they “think outside the box” and “color their world with FCCLA.”

Fun Fact: Utah FCCLA VP of Public Relations Alesha Hurst goes to North Sanpete High School.

Food. Everyone needs it. But when was the last time you sat down for a meal at the dinner table as a family? Chances are, it wasn’t recently. FCCLA is aware of this growing problem, and we’re taking measures to stop it from becoming worse.

FCCLA@TheTable is a new program that national FCCLA council members have started in an attempt to strengthen family relationships. FCCLA members pledge that they will share meals with their families, and as a result, they will be able to bond with their family members over dinner. The only requirement is that they have to take a picture of the meal as proof of completion and post it on Instagram with #FCCLA@TheTable.

The reasoning behind this initiative is simple: strong families make strong leaders. Studies have shown that regular family meals promote healthy eating habits and create a bond between parents and their children. Also, eating dinner together improves academic performance in school. 52% of children earn mostly A’s and B’s when their families eat dinner together at least twice a week. The benefits greatly outweigh the costs, and FCCLA believes that FCCLA@TheTable will help these statistics apply to more of its members.

This project has received a lot of support from members, and many have already taken the pledge! The national goal is for 70,000 members to pledge meals with their families, and Utah FCCLA hopes to contribute 3,500 of them!

We understand that it is hard for families to find time in their busy schedules to meet together for dinner, but we encourage everyone to make an effort. And to avoid awkward silent meals, we have come up with a list of conversation starters for you.

• If you could take any trip or vacation to any destination, where would you go and what would you do there?

• How would you describe a perfect day?

• If you could go back to any moment in your life and re-live or re-do it, what moment would it be? Would you simply experience it again, or would you do something differently?

• If someone made a movie of your life, who would play the starring role and why?

• What made you feel mad, sad, and glad today?

• What do you want to be when you grow up?

• What is the funniest/weirdest dream you have ever had?

• If you could trade places with your parents for a day, what would you do differently?

• If you could turn invisible, where would you go and what would you do?

• If you could change anything in the world, what would you change and how?

• If you could wake up tomorrow with a superpower, what superpower would you want to have?

• If you could master a new skill tonight, what would it be?

• What was the best gift you’ve ever received? The best one you’ve ever given?

• If salary wasn’t important and talent wasn’t necessary, what would be your dream job and why?

• If you could teleport anywhere in the universe right now, where would you go?

Help Utah FCCLA bring families closer together by taking the pledge for yourself here! 

Whether you traveled by bus, plane, car, or train, once you got to the National Cluster Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, all jet lag was forgotten as FCCLA members came together for an exciting conference!

Utah FCCLA was pleased to welcome members from Nebraska, Georgia, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and several other states at the meeting. We became fast friends with the other state associations, which you can definitely see in our social media posts! Several members of the National Executive Council came to Utah for this monumental event--Sarah Smith, Connor Jones, Shivani Dhir, Garrhett Petrea, and Jared Gustafson--and made everyone feel at home by befriending members, taking countless selfies, and putting on hilarious skits to promote FCCLA@theTable.

Attendees were able to hear from amazing keynote speakers like Madilyn Paige and Daniel Seddiqui! We were able to learn how to be confident in our abilities as Madilyn sang "Titanium," reminding us that we are stronger than we think. Daniel taught us to be open-minded, persistent, and determined as he shared his experience of having fifty different jobs in fifty states in fifty weeks. Thanks to them, we were inspired to become better leaders!

But the main reason for gathering together was the chance for students to compete in Skill Demonstration Events! Those who participated did very well, and Utah FCCLA members claimed 23 finalist prizes! We're also sending two teams to the FACS Knowledge Bowl at the 2015 National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.!

Between Skill Demonstration Events and general sessions, attendees were able to delve deeper into the theme of "Together We Are... Ready!" by going to workshops focused on helping FCCLA members prepare for college or careers after high school. Exhibitors from multiple universities encouraged students to continue their educations, and alumni members gave presentations about the benefits of staying involved in FCCLA after graduation. Youth presenters were also given the chance to offer workshops, some of which were our very own Utah state officers!

Members were able to take a rest from competing and learning by touring the beautiful Salt Lake City area. The most popular destination was Temple Square, home of the Salt Lake City Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and some visitors were lucky enough to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse for their Christmas concert! As for souvenirs, Utah FCCLA made a Plinko board and gave away fry sauce, Real Salt (from the Great Salt Lake), honey sticks (because we're the Beehive State), Utah Truffles, and salt water taffy as prizes.

Utah FCCLA is grateful for the opportunity that we have had to host this memorable conference and show off our amazing state! We'd like to extend a big "thank you" to everyone who participated, and we hope to see you all presenting your STAR Events at our region conferences in 2015!

Last week was an exciting one for the Utah FCCLA State Executive Council! As state officers, we were able to travel to Washington, D.C. (on a direct flight, thank goodness) and attend the annual Capitol Leadership training meeting.

Capitol Leadership is a unique experience for all who attend because it is not a typical conference. Although there were the usual workshops generally associated with meetings, we also had the opportunity to use what we learned in a fun, hands-on way by completing a service project and advocating on Capitol Hill.

FCCLA partnered up with the Lead2Feed program during the trip. By doing so, we were able to participate in a service learning project focused on feeding the hungry. The 129 student leaders who attended from 33 different states joined together to package 10,000 meals for the Capital City Food Bank! We also made 2,000 snack bags for the D.C. Central Kitchen! These food items will be directed toward the hungry in the Washington, D.C. area, so it was a fun and effective way to give back to our host city.

The main reason for attending Capitol Leadership, however, was to advocate for Carl D. Perkins funding, which is what provides money for CTE programs. We were able to talk to staff members for all of Utah’s congressmen and explain the importance of CTE and FACS education. We presented statistics and personal stories to help them understand how Perkins funding positively impacts students. Fortunately, all of Utah’s senators and representatives are in favor of continuing Perkins funding, so our job wasn’t too hard.

In between meetings and other activities, we also had the chance to explore the sights and sounds of Washington, D.C. We were able to visit many monuments, memorials, and museums. My personal favorite was the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. It commemorated the lives of those who were aboard the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on that iconic day. There is an audio tour available, and we listened to it as we paid our respects. It was a patriotic, emotional experience for all of us.

At the conclusion of the conference, we found that none of us wanted to leave! We had learned so much and gained so many new friends that going home seemed like a terrible idea. Eventually, we decided we needed to come back. (How could D.C. handle all of us, anyway?) Now we can’t wait to share what we’ve learned with the rest of the Utah FCCLA members!

There’s nothing like the sound of hundreds of cheering teenagers to put you in a good mood, especially when they are young leaders who aim to make the world a better place. While standing onstage amidst a sea of smiling FCCLA student leaders, I felt so much pride for the outstanding organization that had brought us all together and united us in a single cause.

This remarkable event, the 2014 Fall Leadership Conference for the Utah delegation of FCCLA, proved to be a huge success as chapter officers from across the state attended leadership training workshops and participated in team-building activities. Students left the conference with fun ideas for their chapters and a renewed urge to spread the word about FCCLA.

Workshops included information about specific offices and their duties, as well as parliamentary procedure and other important topics. The focus of the conference was to give inspiration for activities and methods of leadership so that the FCCLA members of Utah would be able to have an effective, productive year. In my opinion, we accomplished our goal.

Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox was the keynote speaker for the conference. He delivered an encouraging speech about the importance of learning from failures in order to have success in life. He shared interesting stories and gave a wonderful presentation that left students feeling empowered and ready to lead.

In addition to leadership activities, members had the opportunity to give service by participating in our fundraiser for Share Our Strength, a national campaign dedicated to ending childhood hunger. We ended up raising $354.50 for the program, and as a reward, the attendees were able to watch four state officers get pied in the face. The lucky recipients of the pie facials were Tanner Richardson, Maddie Barr, Wesley Carter, and Kayla Orton.

The Utah FCCLA Fall Leadership Conference was a fantastic experience for everyone involved, and I cannot wait to see what FCCLA has in store for its members next!