TEAMTRI

One of FCCLA’s Educational Outreach Partners is Autism Speaks, which is a non-profit that works to fund research into the prevention, treatments and cure for autism. The organizations goal is to increase people’s awareness of autism spectrum disorders and advocate for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Oregon FCCLA State Vice-President of Public Relations, Katelyn Curtis and a fellow chapter member organized a “Light It Up Blue Week” for their junior high to promote Autism Speaks and autism awareness. Here is Katelyn’s recap of what they did throughout the week at Enterprise Junior High.

Learning at the 2013 National Conference that FCCLA had partnered with Autism Speaks, I decided that I wanted to do a project that helped increase my fellow peers awareness of autism spectrum disorder. This project was very personal to me, because I have a relative that is diagnosed with autism, and I not only wanted to further educate myself about autism, but also my peers. My partner and I decided to call our project “Light It Up Blue Week”. Throughout the week the Enterprise Junior High student participated in games, activities, and competition. We also put up fats about autism spectrum disorder each day for students to see.

·      On Monday, we gave a brief introduction to what we would be doing for the rest of the week, handed out Autism Speaks wristbands and gave students a challenge to wear them all week. If they wore their wristbands all week they would receive a prize.

·      Tuesday, we played a game called "how many are in the jar?". We filled a mason jar and full it with blue and white m&ms and put the jar in a junior high classroom with a bucket where they could write their name and their guess. At the end of the week we selected a winner who was closest to the actual amount. We choose blue and white m&ms, because they are the colors that represent Autism Speaks.

·      Wednesday, we did a scavenger hunt for blue puzzle pieces, which represented Autism Speaks logo. To get the students really interested in the scavenger hunt we made it a competition between the seventh and eighth grade. Throughout the day they looked for puzzle pieces and by the end of the day, whichever class has the most pieces won a “Snack Certificate” to the FACS Room.

·      On Thursday, we held a large assembly and a contest to see who could wear the most blue! During the assembly we talked with them about autism spectrum disorder, and what Autism Speaks does to help individuals and families with autism. We will also played a short sound track of what it would be like to have autism. This helped give students who do not have autism a better understanding of what it might be like to have autism. 

The Enterprise School District has a number students that have autism. With starting this project we wanted to make sure we were careful and presented the information in a way that would help other understand autism better and be educated on it. We believe that our “Light It Up Blue Week” was very successful in finding interactive and fun ways to help promote autism awareness.

For more information on Autism Speaks, you can visit www.autismspeaks.org

February is Career and Technical Education Month! Oregon FCCLA is proud to announce that Governor John. A. Kitzhaber, M.D. has created a Proclamation for Oregon Career and Technical Student Organizations to commemorate the value of student organizations like FCCLA - The Ultimate Leadership Experience.

My Career and Technical Education superhero is Edna P. Amidon. Edna was the founder of Future Homemakers of America (FHA). Without her influence and drive to create a organization that focuses on the family I would not be the leader I am today. If I had the opportunity to have lunch with Ms.Amidon, I would ask her what was her vision for FHA, and compare with the present FCCLA. Most importantly I would want to thank her for her hard work and dedication to Family Consumer Science Education. Edna did so much and she should truly is a top superhero for Career and Technical Education Month!

Joey Vanek

2013-2014 State President

My CTE superhero is a beautiful woman disguised as an ordinary teacher, but she is so much more than that! This woman is dedicated, caring, kindhearted, organized,  a great leader, and a true idol. She has always been there for me or anyone I know for that matter and it has been an outstanding pleasure to work with her throughout the years, in and out of school.  I am so privileged to have such a great teacher/adviser/friend. Thank you for everything Ms. Marla Dotson!

Destiny Remuth

2013-2014 VP of Development

Brittani Parker is not only my State Officer Coach and State Director, but my superhero too. Brittani is a positive role model in my life as she is a strong, smart, fun, and career oriented young woman. She devotes her time to helping youth, and supporting leadership growth from within. She has taught me some important life, leadership and business skills that I know will benefit my future endeavors. I am thankful for such a great, passionate, and hard working coach and hero

Jisselle Garcia

2013-2014 State Secretary

My CTE superhero is my chapter adviser Mrs. Susie Cobb.  Mrs. Cobb has motivates me to become a better person everyday. Another reason Mrs. Cobb is my superhero is because, she has helped me with my role as a State and Chapter officer and has encouraged me and has given me trust. Thanks to all her help, I have been successful during my term as a State Officer for Oregon FCCLA.

Check out this video on how to make a tasteful and simple smoothie from Mrs. Cobb herself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB0FPFkZpkU

Jocey Franco

2013-2014 VP of Membership

Are you interested in pursuing a career in Culinary Arts? If so, have you considered attending The Culinary Institute of America?

The Culinary Institute of America is offering a $2,000 National Student Organization Scholarship to members of FCCLA, SkillsUSA or ProStart. To apply for the scholarship you must complete and submit your application by April 1st 2014. The scholarship is available to students wanting to pursue a degree in Culinary Arts or Baking and Pastry Arts at one of their three campuses in either Hyde Park, NY, St. Helena, CA or San Antonio, TX. The scholarship process includes an essay of at least 500 words over one of the two options listed on their website. The top 45 essays will be selected to receive the scholarship.

This is a great opportunity for any member interested in a Culinary Arts degree to apply for. The scholarship can help tremendously to help pay to further your education.

For more information on the scholarship visit:http://www2.ciachef.edu/pdf/fa_nsoscholarship.pdf

For more information on The Culinary Institute of America visit:

http://www.ciachef.edu/

The newly elected Oregon FCCLA State Officer Team attended their first leadership training to plan another exciting year, which took place May 8-10 at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton in Portland. Not only did they enhance their leadership skills, they were also able to interact with state officers from other Career and Technology Student Organizations including FBLA, HOSA, and Skills USA.  

During their meeting the officers did various activities that helped them gain knowledge on how to further their leadership abilities. A central part of the meeting was setting goals and developing their Program of Work for the upcoming year. This year the State Officer Team is challenging themselves to increase chapters across the state and increase membership as a whole! Be watching for more information about exciting new things coming, such as a new membership campaign and the reveal of the state theme for the year.

The officers plan to go above and beyond this year to help continue to improve Oregon FCCLA, but they can’t do it alone. Throughout the year, the state officers hope that members will get involved and participate.

The State Officer Team is thrilled for their opportunity to lead the members of Oregon FCCLA through the “Ultimate Leader Experience” of 2014-2015!

FCCLA’s National Leadership Conference is just around the corner, and we could all use some extra spending money for San Antonio. Here are some simple but, great fundraising ideas to help you prepare for your trip to Texas.Can Drive: So many people have leftover aluminum cans and glass bottles lying around, and many of them are willing to donate to your cause. Once you collect a good amount,  spend a couple hours recycling them at a local grocery store or recycling center. Also, you are helping the environment by recycling.

Bake Sale: Who doesn’t love a good cupcake or chocolate chip cookie?  Bake up some of your favorites treats and sell them during a community event or in front of  a local business.

Car Wash: It’s getting warmer outside, and this popular idea can help you raise quite a bit of money. Just get a few people from your chapter together, add some soap, water, sponges, towels and you’re set!

Pancake Feed: Many restaurants, will allow you to host pancake feeds in their restaurants. See if there are any locations around you or host one at your school. If a pancake feed doesn’t work out, see if the restaurant will sponsor “FCCLA Night” where anyone that comes in and mentions FCCLA, 10% of the bill will go to your chapter.

Yard Work: All you have to do is go around your neighborhood and see if anyone would like you to do yard work or any other job for them. It’s fairly easy, and a great way to earn some extra cash.

Babysitting: Have any family members or friends with young kids? Offer to babysit for them one night while they go out.

Hopefully, these ideas can help you in raising money for your trip to NLC this summer. If you have another great idea, be sure and let us know by telling us on Facebook or twitter @oregonfccla.

We know that everyone has been hard at work fundraising and we can’t wait to see you in San Antonio at the National Leadership Conference where we will learn to SOAR!

 We hope that you are excited to visit an awesome city, compete in STAR Events, gain new leadership skills, and last but not least have a great time! You may be all pumped up for this once in a lifetime chance, but what might you be diving into?

To ensure you have the best possible experience, we wanted to make sure you are thoroughly prepared. Here is the weather forecast and some items to remember to bring. The forecast calls for high 90’s and some clouds all the way through the 9th. Then on the 10th there is the chance for some thunderstorms. Overall your trip should be relatively nice. With this hot weather remember sunscreen. Also, Texas is known to be humid, we also suggest you keep water with you to stay hydrated. Those are just some of the less mandatory items to bring, but they will make your trip more pleasant.

The more essential items to bring, include plenty of dress clothes, money for food and tips, and of course all your materials for your presentation.  To make sure you stay within the guidelines of the conference dress code visit http://www.fcclainc.org/content/meetings/ to find what is required. Throughout the conference, it is also important to know when and where you need to be. To ensure that you are always on time here is a link to the NLC schedule.  Remember to always be on leader time and be early to each event. It is better to be early and have to wait then to show up late and miss out on something. Two events that you don’t want to miss are the Oregon delegation state meetings and picture. The first state meeting is Monday, July 7th at 8:30 p.m. in the Marriott Rivercenter and the second one is on Tuesday, July 8th at 5:00 p.m in the Convention Center. The state picture will be Sunday, July 6th at 5:40 p.m. Be sure to always reference your conference program to find out when and where different meetings and events are taking place.

Before you leave for your trip, double check and triple check everything to ensure that you forget nothing. The State Officer Team wishes you the best of luck at NLC! We look forward to meeting each of you throughout the week!