FCCLA Has Strong Showing at State

Mrs. Koss and a group of her students went to the FCCLA state competition on the MSU campus in Bozeman, where it takes place every year. You may be asking, what is FCCLA? Well, first of all, FCCLA stands for Family, Career, Community Leaders of America. When asked to elaborate, Mrs. Koss said, "FCCLA is a national Career and Technical Student Organization, also known as a CTSO, for students in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) courses. FCCLA offers intra-curricular opportunities for students to pursue careers that support families. FCCLA has been around since 1945 but used to be known as FHA. Involvement in FCCLA allows members to gain leadership skills, improve their school and community, and gain problem-solving skills they will use for life. At Lockwood, FCCLA is a student group who strives to make a positive impact on our school, in our community, and with each other."

Even though they just finished state, and some will go on to Nationals, their year isn't over. They plan to do at least two fundraisers, one for Easter, where families can get pre-filled eggs that can be picked up or brought to people's yards, and one together with FFA for Mother's Day, which is still in the planning stages.

This year FCCLA has started many new events, including the Fall Festival for Halloween and the Winter Formal high school dance, as well as hosting the District 4 meeting at Lockwood. The event included 6 area schools' FCCLA groups, which came to LHS to do activities and annual meetings. They also got the chance to work with businesses in the area and were recently invited to a special TedEx event held at Babcock Theater. But the biggest event of all was the State Leadership Conference, where 24 members of the Lockwood team participated, with seven qualifying for Nationals.

Most of Mrs. Koss’ classes have some relation to FCCLA. Through her time as an advisor, she has found that the FCCLA community has a vast support system. When I talked to Koss about how she thought state went, she said it was the highlight of her academic year. Each member who did an event got a medal for their many different workshops and breakout sessions. The students did many things that brought them to step out of their comfort zones and they made friends with students from all across Montana. Other chaperones were Ms. Grob and Mrs. Laib, who were big supporters and did their best to help.

In order to join FCCLA, students need to either be in an FCS class or have already taken an FCS class. After that, simply stop by Mrs. Koss' room on the first floor of the high school and pick up a form. There is a fee to join of $25 for the year, which will cover state and national memberships. Students can participate anytime with a meeting Tuesday morning from 8 to 8:45.