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\\u201cAs soon as the student steps into their first family and consumer sciences class, oftentimes that teacher can be a pivoting point for the student.\\u201d

Sandy Spavone (15:29-15:41)

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FCCLA is the Family Career and Community Leaders of America which touches over 5,400 family and consumer sciences teachers across the US and connects with students to prepare them for careers with family and consumer sciences work.

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FCCLA, formerly known as Future Homemakers of America, is a 75-year-old student leadership group that works hand in hand with family and consumer sciences. They currently have 475,000 youth based in middle and high schools across the United States as well as in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The students that are a part of FCCLA have enrolled in family and consumer sciences courses and wanted to take it one step further with the leadership opportunity while exploring careers they might be interested in and engaging in competitive events.

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\\u201cOur goal is to help students explore and prepare to be leaders in whatever career they choose in family and consumer sciences.\\u201d Sandy Spavone (5:52-6:01)

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The connection between the FCCLA and FCS is essential. FCCLA isn\\u2019t a club or an extracurricular activity. The FCCLA is meant to be integrated as a part of the classroom to provide all of the resources and opportunities students need to succeed\\u2026 resources which are crosswalked with the national standards of family and consumer sciences education.\\xa0

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One of the things that\\u2019s foundational to FCCLA is their competitive events, which they have over 30 of at different skill levels. The competitive events incorporate project-based learning inside the classroom. It could be anything from fashion design, interviewing for a job, early childhood Teach and Train\\u2026 there are many points of exploration.

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Once a student decides what they are interested in, the competition they want to enter, and what the specifications are, they then develop the project requirements, whether it be creating a portfolio or decorating a cake, and then have the opportunity to compete at a regional and state level. At the state level, they\\u2019re representing their entire state and then can compete at the national level.\\xa0

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Another thing about family and consumer sciences teachers that goes unrecognized is the safe space and emotional nurturing they give for students. It\\u2019s in those classrooms that a lot of emotional, social learning happens which inspires so many of those who go into the field that want to be another safe space and caring person for a student and make a difference.

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How does a student win and move on to the next level? Their projects are evaluated based on a rubric and they get feedback from evaluators who are typically in the business industry or in the career field. The beautiful thing about these competitive events (unlike others) is it is a safe place to fail! Not only are they learning FCS-related skills, they\\u2019re also learning about time-management, conflict resolution, communication skills, team leadership skills, and, what kids are most excited about, is the opportunity to win a scholarship through several of FCCLA\\u2019s partners. In many of the competitions, students have the opportunity to explore different careers, which is good because they can find out, for example, they\\u2019d rather be a teacher on a particular topic, not be out in the field of that career path.

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Another event called \\u201cSay Yes To FCS\\u201d was specifically designed to have students who are thinking about becoming an educator go through the process of creating a lesson plan and getting feedback on it. Kids can apply the skills they\\u2019ve learned in the classroom, explore career opportunities and prepare themselves to be successful while also contributing to their communities.

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\\u201cWe just tried to be more intentional about making [Signing Day] a very special event in our state so that our teachers look forward to recognizing their students and so that we can still celebrate their decision to major in FCS education.\\u201d Kayla Godbey (13:32-13:46)

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Signing Day, part of the FCCLA Leadership conference, started in Kentucky and was spearheaded by Kayla Godbey, Kentucky\\u2019s Program Consultant for FCS. Signing Day is an event that recognizes a student\\u2019s commitment to FCS Education. Complete with a huge banner similar to an NCAA event, the president of the teacher association pins students on stage who then sign their letter of intent that isn\'t legally binding, but helps them commemorate, celebrate and welcome them into an FCS profession.

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The amazing thing about a career in family and consumer sciences that was brought up in our previous episode is that the ability to find a job is extremely easy. Students don\\u2019t have to hunt and go through the pains of going through multiple job applications just to be shut down. There are plenty of positions out there and these jobs are in high demand.\\xa0

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How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!\\xa0
• Reach out to us - we\\u2019d love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.\\xa0

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