| Family, Career and Community Leaders of America | |
|---|---|
Official FCCLA emblem |
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| Abbreviation | FCCLA |
| Motto | Towards New Horizons "Hacia Nuevos Horizontes" |
| Formation | June 11, 1945, Chicago, Illinois |
| Type | Career and Technical Student Organization Student organization |
| Legal status | Non-profit organization |
| Purpose/focus | Family and Consumer Sciences education |
| Headquarters | Reston, Virginia |
| Region served | United States District of Columbia Virgin Islands Puerto Rico |
| Membership | 220,000 members in the United States[1] |
| Website | FCCLA |
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA, Spanish: Líderes de las Familias, Carreras y Comunidades de América),[2] formerly known as Future Homemakers of America (FHA), is a nonprofit U.S. career and technical student organization (CTSO) for young men and women in family and consumer science education (FACS) in public and private schools through grade 12 across the United States. FCCLA is the only in-school student organization with the family as its central focus; is a vocational student organization that functions as an integral part of the Family and Consumer Sciences education curriculum and operates within the school system, and it provides opportunities for active student participation at local, state, and national levels.[3] FCCLA currently operates out of Reston, Virginia.
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FCCLA is a Non-profit organization that works with community service. It was formed in Chicago on June 11, 1945. As of the 2011 National Leadership Conference it had nearly 200,000 members in nearly 7,000 chapters across all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The national headquarters is located at 1910 Association Drive, Reston VA 20191-1584.
FCCLA began on June 11, 1945, as Future Homemakers of America (FHA). It was created in Chicago, Illinois by Edna P. Amidon. During the years of segregation, sixteen southern states also operated the "New Homemakers of America." The two organizations merged in 1965. To reflect a focus on career preparation, the organization "HERO" (Home Economics Related Occupations) also merged with FHA to create FHA/HERO.
The name of the organization was changed to Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) in July 1999 at the National Leadership Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts by a majority of the voting delegates. A previous vote on a name change failed in 1995 at the organization's 50th Anniversary meeting in Washington, DC. A new name had been debated within the organization for many years[4] with several state associations choosing to break ranks and change their names to reflect the new mission of the organization.
The new name was chosen to reflect the new mission and focus of the organization at the Boston meeting which was presided over by the final national officers of FHA/HERO and subsequently the first national officers of FCCLA: Brandon Abbott (Texas), Becca Hinson (Georgia), Conrad Lucas (West Virginia), Sarah East (Ohio), Erin Springer (Ohio), Geoffrey Pearson (Washington), Patrick Correa (New Mexico), Brooke Roberts (Alabama), Jared Stahler (Pennsylvania) and Leslie Allensworth (Iowa). The name change thrust the organization and many of the young officers into the national spotlight.[5]
FCCLA has a variety of programs serving families, careers, and communities.
Competitive Events is a program that contains all competition events existing in FCCLA.
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. STAR Events are no longer considered National Programs, now it is a "Competitive Events".
STAR Events offer individual skill development and application of learning through the following activities:
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 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.
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.
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 medal. 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:
National Cluster Meetings 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.