Black River FCCLA

The key to our success as an FCCLA chapter is our Program of Work! Working as an officer team, we compose a new Program of Work every year and it serves as a working document throughout our term as officers. It is solely developed by our officer team and incorporates past traditions while also reflecting the ideas and leadership styles of our current officers. "The swooping arch that encircles the FCCLA letters is a powerful symbol of momentum, growth, and opportunity" (Logos - FCCLA). The use of our Program of Work embodies the meaning of the FCCLA logo, which is located on the first page of the document. This serves as a reminder that we are continually working as officers to develop our chapter and increase member opportunities, allowing them to develop their leadership while also promoting the values of Family and Consumer Sciences and making a difference in our school and community. FCCLA is a student-led organization and the Program of Work demonstrates this key component at every level.

Our Program of Work allows us to have an organized and thoughtful plan for each of our chapter events which allows us to ensure that every officer is prepared and every member is getting a meaningful experience from every activity they participate in. We only have the chance to meet with our members all together once a week and this is also mixed in with other school activities and student athletes leaving early, so our Program of Work helps us to make sure that we are covering essential material in the short amount of time that we have. As mentioned, this is created prior to the school year and at this time, we ensure that every chapter activity has a plan so we can look ahead on the year and be fully prepared for every event. We can always work ahead when we are planning and there is always space for new projects. With this, when created, as an officer team we also create our mission and goals for the year which are placed on the first page of the document, serving as a reminder when placing the groundwork for our chapter meetings and community service projects.

Our Program of Work is outlined by month, a bulk of our Program of Work is in a large Google Doc, where we utilize the "Document tabs" feature to keep our monthly plans organized in order to prevent long sections that are hard to navigate. Our "Yearly Outline" tab contains our officer team mission and goals as mentioned above, and contains a rough outline of our larger activities and our dedicated chapter focus for each month.

Our chapter goals:

1. Getting more members involved

2. Everyone be more positive, cooperative, participative, and communicative.

3. Increasing attendance and inviting students that are not in FCCLA to attend as well.

Our chapter mission:

As the Black River FCCLA Officer Team, we will work diligently to thoughtfully complete all of our responsibilities, grow our membership numerically and personally, and consistently expand on all of our events and opportunities.

Next, in the sections labeled by month, our Program of Work outlines our snack for the meeting, the business we need to discuss as a chapter, our meeting service, the team building activity we will do in small groups, and the shopping list for our adviser to buy. Together, all of these meeting components help us not only have a fun meeting, but also foster our member's leadership skills in every way possible. Again, our officer team creates these plans while also leading the meetings, ensuring that the meeting is managed well and we are staying on time, accomplishing everything that needs to get done. At the meetings through service and team building activities, members are able to stay conneCTEd and make new friends, enhance their communication skills, and become strong leaders overall, mastering skills like strong team work capabilities and strengthening their problem solving abilities. Not only this, but at community service events, through the thoughtful organization done by the officer team, members have the stepping stones to success, allowing them to work in small groups to attain the group goal. They have a clear map of what needs to be carried out and with this silhouette, they can be certain that they are making an impact in their own ways while also growing their personal skills. As the 6th FCCLA purpose reads, "To provide opportunities for making decisions and for assuming responsibilities" (About - FCCLA), through community service, members have the ability to not only make a difference in our community, but they can develop their skills by making decisions and carrying the responsibility of being successful with their work. A key concept of Family and Consumer Sciences is being able to succeed in our complex world and through every event planned in our Program of Work, members are given the outlet to practice this skill and put their knowledge from FCS courses into practice.

For regular meetings we follow this outline:

Snack: Every week we provide a meal for all of our members in attendance, some meetings are just quick grab and go snacks like Goldfish, while other weeks we work as an officer team to plan potlucks. With our members being very involved, they are coming directly from school and many are going to sports right after our meeting, so we feel that it is important to provide them with a small meal!

Business: Between meetings, community service projects, and STAR Event preparation, our chapter has a lot of moving pieces, so to keep our members up to date, we take time out of our meeting to present about what is going on in our chapter currently. This gives us time to explain fundraisers and incentive trips, allows members to sign up for various events, and allows the officer team to recognize above and beyond members.

Team building: To continue strengthening our leadership skills, we plan a team building activity for every meeting. We challenge our members to group up with new people which allows them to not only meet new people, but allows them to better their skills by working with a team that they have not collaborated with before.

Service: As an organization rooted in community service, outside of our larger events, we like to incorporate a small service project into every meeting. This includes things like making treats for our teachers or making notes to put on the cars of student drivers. In all, this allows us to make a difference in our community one small act at a time.

Reminders/Shopping Lists: As mentioned, this document helps us to stay organized and one of the largest components of this is keeping our adviser informed. As we are all busy students and she is an active educator, there is not always enough time to make sure that everyone is clear on our plans, however this section allows Mrs. Demczyk to successfully accomplish her biggest responsibility when it comes to meetings which is buying the groceries and supplies for activities.

While conducted, every single member and officer plays a role in our chapter. We are all growing together and making a difference in our community one member at a time. Throughout every opportunity, there is a chance to make an impact on yourself as a leader and in our school and community!

Lastly, after every activity that we do as a chapter, we fill out a follow up form reflecting on our event allowing us to see the good, the bad, and what we can improve for next time. As an officer team, we meet after activities to analyze our event and make notes for either our upcoming events or for future records of similar activities. We do this on paper and keep them in a binder filed with the form that correlates from previous years. Doing this, while simple in the moment, is influential to our success in succeeding years. We strive to continue to improve our chapter every year and through thoughtful reflection of our events, we are able to make notes and alter what we think needs to be changed for future years.

In all, our Program of Work allows us to not only be successful as an officer team, but allows us to thoughtfully prepare our members for their lives after graduation. Through every meeting they attend and every community service project they volunteer at, they are getting a meaningful experience that will last a lifetime. The FCCLA mission states, "To promote personal growth and leadership development through Family and Consumer Sciences education" (About - FCCLA), and through every chapter event planned in the Program of Work, they are able to grow personally and as a leader while seeing the value of FCCLA and Family and Consumer Sciences. Built off of FCS, FCCLA allows students to prepare for their life after they leave the red blazer, and our Program of Work allows us to successfully develop the skills of every one of our members. These events support growth for individual life, family life, and strengthening our community, all core values of FCS. By creating a strong, student-organized Program of Work, our chapter has the means to be successful while making an impact in many ways. Continually expanding our Program of Work year after year, allows us to add in new events while enhancing the ones that we succeed in every year. While our chapter is constantly growing, we are able to follow in part by growing our impact in not only the skills of our members but in our school and community.

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