On Jan. 27 at Lake Stevens High School, some of the club’s members competed in the Regional Competition. FCCLA is the Family Career Community Leaders of America club created to help students prepare for post-high school life. Kids can explore their pathways, from culinary pursuits to child development, and participate in community service. Students attending created a project and then were graded based on a rubric from the judges. Everyone from LSHS who participated in the Regional Competition is going to state this year.
Senior Molly Rose Bates, the Washington FCCLA State Vice President of Public Relations and Finance, competed in the 2024 Regional Competition. Bates created a project on career investigation. She researched the career of a school psychologist along with job shadowing and interviewing elementary and high school psychologists. Bates scored better than a 90 on her career investigation project, meaning she placed Gold and will attend state in March.
“This is my fifth year [in FCCLA]. I started in eighth grade. I got my [vice president] position last March. This is my third year being a state officer,” Bates said.
Bates has worked hard to be in her current position with the state through experience in the competitions in the past several years. She plans to improve her project for the state competition to make it to nationals.
Senior Harini Arumugam Gandhimathi, secretary and treasurer for FCCLA in LSHS, has been part of the club since sophomore year.
“I really like how I get to meet new members across the state and you get to travel a lot with FCCLA,” Arumugam Gandhimathi said.
Students prepare for state by reviewing their regional scores and improving their projects to get a better score.
Senior Amelia Vasquez, president of FCCLA at LSHS, helps empower students to explore leadership in the community. She has been part of the club along with Bates for five years.
“I’ve been to eleven leadership conferences, so it’s given me a lot of workshops. I plan to stay active in my community [with this experience],” Vasquez said.
She expects to work in the medical field after high school. This active participation in FCCLA has helped enhance her understanding of the community, which will allow her to pursue her career successfully. Vasquez enjoys the conferences and seeing the impact community service events, like trail clean-ups, have on people. She participated in regional competitions in previous years and enjoyed it a lot.
FCCLA club members and leaders participate in competitions and community events to prepare themselves for their future career paths. Looking for a leadership opportunity? Join FCCLA next year.
