This past March, Bingham’s FCCLA went to their state competition. They returned home with seven 1st place winners, who are advancing to nationals, one 2nd place winner, and two 3rd place winners. They also took 1st place in the National Program Humanitarian Aid Project thanks to Hannah Sirstins and the drawstring bags she sent to Haiti. And then they took 1st place in Family First thanks to Nikki Anderson and her family night that encouraged strengthening family relationships. Way to go FCCLA!

FCCLA is an in-school student organization that holds family as its central focus. According to fcclainc.org, “We are the family, career and community leaders of America. We face the future with warm courage and high hopes.” The main focus of the non-profit organization is to return the family to the focus point of modern day homes. They accomplish this task by focusing their organization on youth concerns, such as; teen pregnancy, family relationships, peer pressure, teen violence, substance abuse, and career exploration.

        But FCCLA isn’t just about family relationships; nationally they cover every career basis. They also involve web designing, event planners, food service, sewing and fashion design which can all lead to scholarships. This saddens many teachers and advisors though because it’s hard to get students involved. Ms. Turnbow, the FCCLA advisor, said, “FCCLA is for everyone. I feel bad when there are students who don’t get involved in something and they don’t really have a place, because that’s what we as teachers are here for…People think it’s an all-girls club, but it’s really not. Nationally it’s almost 45% boys, because there is such a broad spectrum of things to do. So I wish more people were involved in FCCLA and realized how great it is.”

        FCCLA encourages students to serve and it opens their eyes to all of the possibilities the world has to offer them in their lives. Ms. Turnbow said, “I was at an interview with the Governor’s wife last week and that’s one thing she said that life isn’t all about a career, you want to focus on that, and you want to focus on being able to build that and provide, but you’ve also got to be able to cultivate relationships and focus on your family which obviously in our society isn’t getting a lot of attention.” So although FCCLA can nationally cover every career, their main goal is to encourage a love for service, and to keep family and relationships at the center of our lives.

        Once again, we want to congratulate our FCCLA team on all the hard work they’ve done this year and how they’ve helped change and improve lives. Keep up the good work Bingham!