Our chapter does not have a good way to communicate with all of our members - especially the ones that are not in FACS classes. We send out texts when we have events going on, but members often have questions about what we do as a chapter and even about what FCCLA is in general. Curious parents or alumni cannot stay up to date on our activities and accomplishments, and the only method we have to really recognize members is social media.
My goal is to create a website for the Neligh-Oakdale FCCLA chapter. This website will be simple and informative, providing relevant information about Family and Consumer Sciences, the activities and members of our chapter, and FCCLA in general. Specifically, my goal is to create a website by February 1st and to reach one hundred people with this website (which will be measured through a visitor counter).
Standard 1.2 - Demonstrate transferable knowledge, attitudes, and technical and employability skills in school, community and workplace settings.
Standard 3.5 - Demonstrate skills needed for product development, testing, and presentation.
The technology administrator at my school will set up a gmail account for my chapter by October 1st. This gmail account will be connected to Google Sites, which shall be used to create a chapter website for FCCLA members, parents, alumni, and other curious individuals. I will mainly work on this website on the Internet using my phone or computer at home or at school. By consulting my adviser and other resources in our FACS room, I can put together information on the activities, members, and history of our chapter. The website will be finished by February 1st to meet my goal. This should not cost me anything, and I shall evaluate my work by adding a Google Form for comments, feedback, and suggestions.
On September 30th, our technology administrator created a gmail account within school to use for the chapter website. That day, I changed the profile picture, created the website, and started working on the content. For the next four months, I sketched out web page designs, uploaded photos, typed information, searched through chapter history, and embedded code for social media feeds and visitor counters. By January 23rd, I had completed the content section of my website and simply needed to add STAR documentation. Finally, I was ready to publish my website. I contacted our technology teacher to have it officially added to our school website.
Looking back, I could have explored other website template options besides Google Sites. Google Sites worked well because our school is very Google-based, but it had limited customization options. For example, I had only two different color options for my text and limited design options. I had to work around this, using HTML or simply going without whatever feature I wanted to add. This problem did definitely force me to come up with creative solutions, and I believe completing this STAR project has improved my technological skills, creativity, time management skills, and writing ability.