FCCLA students take home first and second place honors at the state competition

Recently, the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America, FCCLA, team competed at the state competition in Virginia Beach. The Potomac Falls team had 13 talented students received first or second place across nine different categories.

There are different levels of Family and Consumer Science, FACS, classes that students can take, and depending on which class they’re in, they compete in either the junior or senior level of their category. Any teams made up of only freshman are in the junior level, and teams with a student in an occupational or comprehensive class is on the senior level. All of the winners will be moving on the national competition.

“I’m so excited; it’s going to be so fun. There will probably be one hundred people in each category, and it’ll be way harder [than states]. I’m just excited to be there with my friends, and we had so much fun at states, so it’ll be really fun to all be together again,” said junior Lindsey Bransford.

Bransford combined forces with junior Abby Conry to make their Dude. Be Nice. campaign possible. Throughout the month of December, they passed out cards instructing people to do random acts of kindness and pass on the card to the person they were kind to. Anyone who participated could share their story with a specialized hashtag. This project won them the Service Project Occupational category.

Another one of the winners was senior Eveline Mitchell, who competed in the Interior Design category. Her task was to design a house based on a given floor plan and client biography. Mitchell had to plan her entire design around a person using a wheelchair. Despite the difficulty, Mitchell was victorious.

“It was really awesome. I wasn’t expecting it. I was really intimidated by the evaluators, but it turned out really well in the end. I’m really proud of myself and my team,” said Mitchell.

Other successes from the students include first place finishes in Life Event Planning Senior by senior Josie Roberts, Chapter Service Project Senior by sophomores Nina Malley and Gisselt Flores Beltran, as well as Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation Senior by senior Lisa Ryan.

Sophomore Janette Nowak also won the Recycle and Redesign Occupational category. Senior Katherinne Hernandez received second in Career Investigation Senior, and sophomores Nafisaah Shabazz and Laura Villatoro Benitez won second place Focus on Children Occupational.

The final first place winner was freshman Lynne Tran in the Recycle and Redesign Junior category with an interesting project. She collected old jeans and used the denim to make a dog bed and chew toys. Nowak, the other winner in a similar category, recycled maps and globes and turned them into a lamp, a bowl, a passport holder, a tray, and a set of coasters. She will not be able to compete in nationals due to scheduling conflicts, but she was awarded the Fashion Institute of America Summer Program Scholarship for her project.

“It was a mind-blowing thing. I’m shocked with myself. [I don’t have plans for it] yet. I’ll get the scholarship letter soon, so I’ll know more then,” said Nowak.

Mitchell and Ryan also received $1,000 scholarships from the Art Institute. Ryan, with a perfect score on her project also received the Guest Service Professional Certificate from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute.

All of the winners will be competing in the national competition June 27-July 3 in Atlanta.