By ADAM STEWART

Staff writer

Hillsboro High School Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) members Ashley Brandt, Emily Hoskinson, Rachel MacKenzie, Ashlyn Simmons, and Allister Young qualified to compete in FCCLA Knowledge Bowl at National Leadership Conference in July in Chicago.

They earned the opportunity during a National Cluster Conference Nov. 20 through 22 in Louisville, Ky. It is the first year for the Knowledge Bowl competition, sponsor Monica Leihy said.

The competition began with team members taking tests. Each team member took one test from among the topics of family, career, and community studies; early childhood and human development; food science, dietetics, and nutrition; hospitality, tourism, and recreation; and fashion and housing design.

Team members’ test scores were added together, and the top 20 teams advanced to a head-to-head round to determine which teams would advance to the national competition.

Leihy said the competition benefits the students because it generates interest in learning more.

“They get hungry for the subject matter,” she said.

More than 2,900 FCCLA members attended the conference; the theme was “Grasp Greatness.”

Other National Cluster Conferences were held in Washington, D.C., and Salt Lake City. In addition to participating in competition, students heard motivational speakers Heather Schultz and Paul Vitale and had opportunities to train in FCCLA national programs.

National Leadership Conference will be July 4 through 8 in Chicago. The theme will be “65 Years of Leadership,” referring to the organization’s beginning as Future Homemakers of America in 1945.

Now, the challenge for FCCLA members becomes finding a way to fund a trip, Leihy said. FCCLA already had its annual “monster” cookie dough sale, which provides funds for the organization. Students made and sold about 120, five-pound buckets of dough.