Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America

Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a nonprofit U.S. Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for young men and women in family and consumer sciences education (FACS) in public and private schools through grade 12. It incorporates programs that focus on the family. FCCLA currently operates out of Reston, Virginia.

History

FCCLA began on June 11, 1945 as Future Homemakers of America (FHA). It was created in Chicago, Illinois by Edna P. Amidon. The name of the organization was changed to Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) in July 1999 at the National Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts by then president Brandon Abbott.

FCCLA currently has over 220,000 members in nearly 7,000 chapters across all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Another symbol of FCCLA is the red rose, which represents beauty.

The national headquarters is in Reston, VA. They are located at 1910 Association Drive, Reston Va. 20191-1584 and can be contacted on 703-476-4900.

Mission Statement

To promote personal growth and leadership development through family and consumer sciences education. Focusing on the multiple roles of family member, wage earner and community leader, members develop skills for life through character development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge, and vocational preparation.

Purposes

1. To provide opportunities for personal development and preparation for adult life.
2. To strengthen the function of the family as a basic unit of society.
3. To encourage democracy through cooperative action in the home and community.
4. To encourage individual and group involvement in helping achieve global cooperation and harmony.
5. To promote greater understanding between youth and adults.
6. To provide opportunities for making decisions and for assuming responsibilities.
7. To prepare for the multiple roles of men and women in today’s society.
8. To promote Family and Consumer Sciences Education and related occupations.

Creed

We are the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.
We face the future with warm courage and high hope.

For we have the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious values.
For we are the builders of homes, Homes for America’s future,
Homes where living will be the expression of everything that is good and fair,
Homes where truth and love and security and faith will be realities,not dreams.

We are the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.
We face the future with warm courage and high hope.

Tagline

The Ultimate Leadership Experience

Motto

Towards New Horizons

Programs

FCCLA has a variety of programs serving families, careers, and communities.

#Family
##Families First
##Japanese Exchange
##FACTS
##Financial Fitness
##Power of One
##STAR Events
##Student Body
##Dynamic Leadership
#Career
##Career Connection
##Leaders at Work
##STAR Events
##Japanese Exchange
##Power of One
##Dynamic Leadership
#Community
##Community Service
##FACTS
##Japanese Exchange
##Power of One
##STAR Events
##Dynamic Leadership
##Students Taking on Prevention (STOP) the Violence

TAR Events

STAR Events (Students Taking Action with Recognition) is a very popular program incorporated into FCCLA. STAR Events are the competitive events that members can participate in to learn leadership, team work, communication and public speaking skills.

Note: STAR Events are no longer considered National Programs, they are now placed in their own category: "Competitive Events"

*National-level STAR Events
**Applied Technology
**Career Investigation
**Chapter Service Project (Display and Manual)
**Chapter Showcase (Display and Manual)
**Culinary Arts
**Early Childhood
**Entrepreneurship
**Fashion Design
**Financial Planning
**Focus on Children
**Hospitality
**Illustrated Talk
**Interior Design
**Interpersonal Communications
**Job Interview
**National Programs in Action
**Parliamentary Procedure
**Recycle and Redesign

*Categories of Competition
**Junior (seventh grade through ninth grade members)
**Senior (tenth grade through twelfth grade members)
**Occupational (members who have completed an occupational family and consumer sciences course)

Meetings and Conferences

Chapter Meetings

Chapter Meetings include all the members of a certain chapter in the USA. There, they discuss current issues within the chapter. These usually take place within a school building.

Regional Meetings

Regional Meetings may also be called District Meetings. These are meetings where students within a geographical area may compete in STAR events and conduct business related to chapters in that area. District or regional STAR competition will result in groups or individual with a score above a set minimum (usually 50 or 70 out of 100 points) to the state STAR competition. In some states only a specific number of top achievers in each event are given the chance to advance.

tate Conferences

State Conferences are held in a large city within a state and they are where students present their projects and STAR Events for the chance to go onto the National Leadership Conference. The only way to win the trip to the National Conference is to be the best in your category (such as Focus on Children, or Illustrated Talk) at State STAR Competition. These are usually held at the same city each year in your state.

National Leadership Conference

Each year a National is held in a different city. The National Leadership Conference is where thousands of FCCLA Members gather to compete with STAR events to get a Gold, Silver, Bronze metal. Members also go to bring back new and important information towards their state. National Officers are also elected during this conference and introduced during the final night of the week long conference.

The National Leadership Conference is held in a different US city each year. Some past and future National Leadership Conferences are:

*2002: Minneapolis, Minnesota
*2003: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
*2004: Chicago, Illinois
*2005: San Diego, California
*2006: Nashville, Tennessee
*2007: Anaheim, California
*2008: Orlando, Florida
*2009: Nashville, Tennessee
*2010: Chicago, Illinois
*2011: Anaheim, California
*2012: Orlando, Florida
*2013: Nashville, Tennessee
*2014: San Antonio, Texas

National Cluster Conference

National Cluster Conferences are similar to the National Leadership Conference, but without the STAR competitions. The conferences begin on a Friday night and last through Saturday night. Several motivational-type speakers are featured. There are four of these held every year in November, taking place in different regions of the USA. Anyone can attend these conferences.

*2007
**November 9-11 Atlanta, Georgia & Buffalo, New York
**November 16-18 Minneapolis, Minnesota & Denver, Colorado

*2008
**November 14-16 Jacksonville, Florida & Providence, Rhode Island
**November 21-23 Dallas, Texas & Cincinnati, Ohio

*2009
**November 13-15 Salt Lake City, Utah
**November 20-22 Louisville, Kentucky

*2010
**November 12-14 Denver, Colorado & St. Louis, Missouri
**November 19-21 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

External links

* [http://www.fcclainc.org Official National FCCLA Website]
* [http://www.nysfccla.org/links/index.htm Map and Links to all State FCCLA Pages provided by New York State FCCLA]
* [http://www.iafccla.org State of Iowa FCCLA Website with National Program Information and How-To Guides]