This past weekend, Feb. 10-12, all FCCLA regional events came to a close at College of Dupage. Our York competitors succeeded tremendously, advancing to state.

FCCLA is a nation-wide high school competition that allows students to compete in Family Consumer Science related events such as Cake Decorating, Fashion Construction, Interior Design, Storytelling, and much more. Students are able to achieve a bronze, silver or gold medal.

Students used their free time to work on their events, sometimes taking months to prepare. It’s something students can can look forward to do–something they love and continue to do outside of the school environment.

“I have always loved to bake and cook,” said Sam Flesch, senior. “Although I already took all the culinary classes at York, I still love doing it outside of school. It’s a way I de-stress and spend time by myself. Being apart of FCCLA gives me a chance to show the world what I am capable of.”

Even though York offers FCS classes, some students find that they want to do more on top of that; FCCLA gives students the chance to take their passions and compete with them. If a student competes in a star event, they are given the opportunity to go to nationals if they advance.

“The star events are a little more competitive than a non star event,” said Madi Miller, senior. “This is the second year I competed in the Fashion Construction ‘star event’. For my event, we have 5 minutes to prepare our display. Then we are required to give a maximum five minute presentation about what inspired us, who we are and what we made our garments out of. The judges are a lot more harsh because only 3 people from each event are able to advance.”

Students are able to see their score the following Monday, after competition concludes on Friday. All of York’s non-star event students made it to state, as well as all of our star-events students who competed. After all the hard work for months on end, it finally paid off.

“The months leading up to competition were a little stressful,” said Iqra Shaikh, senior. “On top of school work and having a job, it was hard to make time to work on my project for interior design. Luckily, I was able to work on most of it during school, but it was still stressful leading up to the competition After competition it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. That Monday, I found out that I had advanced to state, and I was ecstatic! I finally didn’t have to worry about getting everything perfect. All I have to do now is touch up my presentation, and I will be golden!”
FCCLA is a wonderful program that allows students to “show off” their special skills, helping students to embrace their hidden talents.