Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a non-profit national career and technical student organization with a basis in family and consumer science. Through its membership, it provides students in public and private schools the opportunity to build leadership and life skills that can be utilised in both their home and work life. Since FCCLA’s beginning in 1945, it has grown to have an extremely large national presence with over 160,000 members in 49 states. Bloomington High School North is home to one of the 5,300 chapters across the country, and is lead by president, Ashleigh Heflin and teacher sponsor, Ms. Farmer.

“The mission of FCCLA is to give back to the community,” Heflin said. “The idea is really ‘help me, help you’  through community service.” Although FCCLA has many events both in individual chapters and collectively on a national scale, the primary focus of their service is on a variety of youth concerns. These issues range from parenting, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, the environment, family relationships, peer pressure, teen violence, and career exploration. Alongside a variety of focuses within FCCLA, the organization also features many different events for chapters to participate in.

“We have STAR events that we compete in nationally, as well as conferences based on family and consumer science classes,” Heflin said. STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) events are one of the many events that give members and chapters from different parts of the country to come together through FCCLA. However, STAR events are unique in the sense that they provide the opportunity for members to actually compete against one another. Here, they can demonstrate their skills in career preparation, individual projects, and leadership abilities.

FCCLA emphasizes personal growth and leadership development as a means for members to critical thinking skills, interpersonal communication, career preparation, practical knowledge, and character development. North’s president not only confirms this promise, but actually explains how much it means to her. “My favorite part of the club is the leadership and communication skills that you gain,” said Heflin.

North’s chapter of FCCLA meets every Wednesday during tutorial in Ms. Farmer’s room which is located in room 56. For North students who are wanting to explore the opportunities that FCCLA provides or are simply interested in learning more, they are more than welcome to reach out to either Ms. Farmer or Ashleigh Heflin.