Family Career and Community Leaders of America, also called the FCCLA, is a student-led organization and leadership club that promotes community service, career preparation, character development, and creative and critical thinking. FCCLA is a co-curricular club that gives teachers lesson plans and ideas for their Family and consumer sciences classrooms.

The Lafayette FCCLA chapter meets once a month in room 130 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. They typically meet on Thursdays but alternate which week each month. Students can check the flyers around the school to find meeting dates. The next meeting for FCCLA is on October 10.

There are currently two community service projects planned for the Fall semester, and more to follow. FCCLA will attend the Pop Tab Palooza at the Ronald McDonald House on Nov. 7 and will also visit to help clean for the families currently staying there and staff that count on volunteers to keep the house running later in November. For the Pop Tab Palooza, members will collect Pop tabs from aluminum cans and then donate them to the Ronald McDonald House. They will then give the collected pop tabs to their commercial recycling partner, who will weigh them and provide the Ronald McDonald House with a check to support the families living there.

The Lafayette FCCLA chapter attends meetings at the Regional, State and National levels yearly. It competes in competitions such as Culinary food art and Knife skills, Fashion and Interior design sketching, Impromptu speaking, Interviewing skills, #TeachFCS, Technology in teaching, Toys that teach, etc. FCCLA has individual programs that can benefit students individually. There is also a set of competitions called Star Events which can be competed in groups or individually and have competition categories from families and careers to athletes and nutrition.

The students and staff participating in FCCLA at Lafayette have a fantastic time at meetings and on field trips. FCCLA advisor Jennifer Burton told The Times, “I would say the reward for me is getting to see the students participate in the things that they might not have been able to do without the organization of FCCLA.” The Lafayette FCCLA chapter just attended the Fall Region 15 meeting in Richmond, KY at Eastern Kentucky University on Sept. 23.

Many community members hear about FCCLA from their friends, family, and consumer science teachers. FCCLA Officer Zoey Brady told The Times, “I heard about FCCLA through my Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, and I joined because it sounded fun.” FCCLA is a nationwide organization with affiliates in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

FCCLA at Lafayette High School has done and will continue to do so much for our community. From community service projects to fundraisers, FCCLA is a service-based organization that promotes leadership for teens and young adults to carry into their adult lives.