From the San Felipe Del Rio CISD
Not even a global pandemic can stop Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) members from making a difference in their families, careers, and communities.
Although this school year looked a bit different, FCCLA members’ perseverance, tenacity, and resilience shined through as students nationwide participated in Student Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Event projects. The top STAR Event competitors from each state, advanced to compete virtually at the 2021 Hybrid National Leadership Conference, June 27-July 2, 2021.
Del Rio’s Carolina Sanchez, 1st Vice President, Leadership Event Competitor and recent honor graduate of the Del Rio High School Class of 2021, won gold at the national event.
“I am very proud of all the hard work Caro has done over her four years in FCCLA. Her ‘Readers are Leaders’ book project raised over 1,000 books that were donated to local youth over the last two years. She made personal health changes in one of her award winning projects as well as became one of the community’s hardest working youth leaders as a member of the Mayor’s Youth Council. She leaves a legacy for younger members to imitate and follow. I am so proud of her!” said her advisor Linda Corbell.
STAR Events are competitive events in which members are recognized for their proficiency and achievement in chapter and individual projects, leadership skills, and career preparation. STAR Events allow student to compete individually or as a team. There are more than 30 STAR Events students can choose to compete in, all which recognize participants who demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities to actively identify an issue concerning families, careers, or communities, research the topic, and develop and implement a project to advocate for positive change.
Both youth and adults work together in managing the events and serving as evaluators of the participants. STAR Events aim to support student development of knowledge and skills by enhancing the classroom experience and Career Pathway initiatives by equipping students with employable skills and industry insights needed to thrive in the 21st century.
In order to advance to compete on the national level in a STAR Event, members first compete at the region/district and state level. Sanchez competed in Leadership Level 3 and won first place at the Texas State FCCLA Hybrid Conference in April earning her a bid to the FCCLA 2021 Hybrid National Leadership Conference in Nashville this month.
FCCLA is an active Student Leadership Organization within the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program.
