In February 2024, AAFCS--Montana Affiliate was able to secure a state wide Governor's proclamation.  The following is a step list with samples of what they used.

• Work within your affiliate to create a project team 3-4 months ahead of time.  Locate special connections FCS has with your state.  In Montana, we had two FCS professionals who were instrumental in establishing the National AAFCS Chalkley Fenn Public Policy Scholar, and several FCS educators who were part of the development of the  University of Arizona  financial literacy resource "Take Charge Today" Curriculum which is used across the nation.  Montana had just added a requirement of a .5 credit of financial literacy for graduates so this connection was timely and relevant. 

• Prepare your elevator speech about why Family and Consumer Sciences Education is important to your State....use the entire title, not the acroymn as they mi ght not know what FCS is. Share tie to state issues, high need workforce issues and/or unique things FCS brings to schools. Bring in FCCLA (again share how FCCLA is tied to FCS and what FCCLA stands for) and that students learn important employability skills like teamwork, leadership, communication and problem solving. How many students are enrolled in the state? Do you know the volunteer hour value to your state economy?  Think of this as "selling" FCS/FCCLA to staffers. 

• Now you are ready to contact the Governor's office, looking for a staff member assigned to constituent relations. Expect to be transferred multiple times until you find the right person. Be prepared to share the date of the event and the date you want the signing beforehand.  

• Request the process to recognize Family and Consumer Sciences Educator Day.  They might have an application form, or might just be a simple letter or email request. (NOTE: always copy your conversation to yourself so you have a reference.)  

• After agreement was achieved, ask about recording the event and photos taken that day.  The Governor's staff may be the only permitted to do both of these. Ask about permissions needed to use both after the event. 

• Follow the process shared. In Montana, we were to follow up with an email request with the date and a sample proclamation.  NOTE: The final proclamation signed might be edited from the one you wrote. That is common. 

• Determine when the actual signing will happen and who you want there. Montana had FCCLA state and district officers (3),  representatives from  AAFCS--MT , MT ACTE--FCS Division, MSU Extension and MT OPI CTE FCS Specialist. 

• Early on, we reached out to the State of Montana Office of Public Instruction and involved their communication department to also do a state-wide news release the week of FCS Educator Day.  They were also in attendance when th signing happened to both take photos and to record it. They worked with the Governor's office to secure formal release of photos and the event recording with the Governor. 

• Support pieces were developed and distributed across the FCS community to encourage special activities locally.  Access the items through the Montana FCS Network Google Site--look under 'MT FCS Library'--scroll down to IV. FCS Educator Day.  Also look to the www.fcsed.net website for additional items. 

• For more information, contact; Gayla Randel--AAFCS Montana Project Coordinator  gayla.randel@mt.gov

Where does FCS align with the modernized career clusters? 

 See the graphic to the left which indicates connections across the updated clusters. The graphic was released by Advance CTE in October, 2024. The FCS connections was added by FCSEA leadership. 

In addition, read the Advance CTE written document titled "Family and Consumer Sciences in the National Career Cluster Framework" (click on title to access).  The information was based upon another document written and released by AAFCS titled "Family and Consumer Sciences: Overview of a 100-year Old Industry Sector" (click on title to access).

As mentioned above, the modernized framework for the career clusters was released in the Fall of 2024, but what may not be known is terminology and expectations changed.  Here is a summary of those changes and the graphic on the left further indicates how the "Key" should be used:

• The Modernized clusters do not indicate pathways. States are to create their own pathways to meet their needs. The "KEY" indicates the new terminology including: 

  • • Subgroupings (general explanation of the work), 

    • Clusters (titles aligned to industry titles as determined by economic factors), 

    • Sub clusters ( which further identifies the work, more commonly linked by occupation codes) and

    •  Cross cutting clusters (clusters which reflects industry, but are needed across all industries). 

 There are no pathways and no key skill sets identified. 

• The modernized framework was based upon the original career clusters which was found to have missing occupations, many of those linked to FCS. The process of updating failed to allow for the input from these missing career fields, many related to the Family and Community Services and Consumer Services pathways.  In addition, this modernized framework model recognizes industries which impact the economy of the United States, Canada and Mexico as per GDP (gross domestic product), which only weakly embraces careers which exist to  provide support for individuals and families (rather than directly grow the economy).  For this reason, FCS careers are vital to fill the missing pieces as explained in the  Advance CTE written document titled "Family and Consumer Sciences in the National Career Cluster Framework" linked above.

• FCS could be a pathway as it meets all the expectations set by Advance CTE as listed below:

Advance CTE shared the following: (Source: "Technical Report" Found under "Methodology" at this link https://careertech.org/career-clusters/about-the-national-career-clusters-framework/  )

• • • This modernization is an exciting opportunity to remove silos among industry and education, state and local levels, and across Career Clusters that keep learners from being fully prepared for the world of work. Through the Advancing the Framework initiative, Advance CTE aimed to create a modernized Career Clusters Framework that will:

 ● Empower learners by providing more personalized pathways to living-wage jobs while equipping them with the skills needed for a wide variety of careers ;

● Enable CTE educators to align, design, and deliver programs that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of both Clusters and the workforce. These programs will include stronger career exploration and advising models, and create better connections between in and out of classroom experiences, such as work-based learning opportunities;

● Support industries by helping them hire learners who possess a lifelong learning mindset, whose interests, skills, and experiences align with industry sector needs ; and

● Assist state CTE leaders in designing responsive programs and experiences that are better aligned with industry and to use data-driven practice to identify occupational demand. This includes providing resources and guidance to local leaders to ensure the needs of the modern workplace are reflected in CTE programs.  The new Framework aims to be a significant step forward in fostering career readiness language that bridges industry and education, enabling more seamless communication and alignment between these two critical sectors.