Winter 2014
Together We Are… FCCLA! FCCLA’s new theme encompasses the diversity of strengths within our organization FCCLA’s new theme “Together we are…” encompasses the diversity of strengths within our organization by inviting advisers and student leaders to complete the statement with their own descriptor and use the theme in ways that work best for each chapter. Not surprisingly, advisers come up with a variety of responses to fill in the blank. “Together we are stronger!” says Kris Bruce, FCCLA adviser at Pioneer Career and Technology Center in Shelby, Ohio, and state officer adviser. “FCCLA takes students’ initiatives and ideas and allows them to develop those into projects and community service opportunities. Along the way the students may ask advice from their advisers, collaborate with their peers, or create a partnership with community members and businesses. FCCLA helps the students develop those creative and critical thinking skills needed every day while encouraging members to work together.” Dee Kirby, adviser at South Shelby High School in Shelbina, Missouri, also thinks of strength when she completes the theme statement. “Together we are a mighty force. As
an adviser my first thought is of the network of resources I have in my colleagues who are FCCLA advisers across the nation,” she says. “I have used many of the ideas for FCCLA and my classes that I have acquired through this great way of sharing ideas. Many of us are oneperson departments and do not have an in-district person to share and bounce ideas off of, so networking with my fellow FCCLA advisers is a great strength.” That mighty force Kirby references is there for members in ways both professional and personal. “In April, some students and I were hit head-on while driving home from our FCCLA state conference. One student and I were very seriously injured, were hospitalized for weeks, and are still continuing to rehab. But what we learned from that was that our FCCLA family is a very powerful force,” says Holly Man, adviser at Whitehouse High School in Texas. “They surrounded us with prayer, flooded us with cards, and continue to support us in our rehab. If it had not been for FCCLA and faith in God, we would never have reached our FCCLA goals! As strange as it sounds, this experience has already brought our chapter