Staff writer
Twenty students joined Goessel High School’s Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America club this year, 11 of them entered the district STAR competition Feb.1 at Marion, and 10 qualified for state level competition next month.
“They put in a lot of extra hours working before and after school,” FCCLA adviser Gina Bergin said. “In October they picked their projects, but the majority of their work was done after the Christmas break.”
FCCLA is linked to the district’s family and consumer science classes but emphasizes student leadership opportunities. Projects picked and perfected by the recent state qualifiers reflected those points.
A freshmen girls’ team of Tara Race, Chelsea Stika, and April Moon focused their efforts on children’s health and nutrition for third-and fourth-grade students. They titled their silver medal project Fuel up for Fitness.
Junior Alex Hiebert won gold in the recycle and redesign category of competition at her age level with an outfit she created from a used turquoise tank top and an old black choir dress.
Nate Bray, a freshman, created a lesson for seventh graders about animal behavior to win a gold medal in the teach and train category.
Darren Hammond, a freshman, promoted strategies for a safe kitchen and showed elementary students how to cook with care as part of his project, earning a bronze medal.
Kara Schmucker, a sophomore, explained weather data to kindergartners in terms relative to their level of understanding, and won a gold medal in the teach and train category for her class division.
Nicki Bartel, a senior, embarked on a career investigation project that took her into the office of Keith’s Foods in Goessel to learn business accounting principles, and earned a silver medal.
Paige Booton, senior, and Tia Goertzen, junior, compiled and preserved records of local FCCLA activities such as fundraisers, leadership events, and community service efforts, in a chapter scrapbook. They won a gold medal in the chapter showcase manual competition.
Jason Meysing, a junior, did not qualify for state, but won a silver medal in the illustrated talk category.
“They’ve put in a lot of work,” Bergin said. “Ninety-nine percent of their work was done here at school, but now they will need to polish and memorize speeches to prepare for state.”
Bergin said the state qualifiers could use feedback from the district competition, which pitted them against students from all-size schools in District G, an area covering the mid-section of Kansas from Salina to Newton.