Have you ever walked down the hallway, and suddenly been met with the heavenly aroma of food cooking? Or maybe you have seen the red posters taped to the walls with FCCLA written in white letters, and wondered what exactly that stood for? Or maybe you know the acronym, but still have no idea what they do?

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America is a nonprofit national career and technical student organization for young men and women in public and private schools through grade 12.

Since 1945, the organization has promoted personal growth and leadership development in its members through Family and Consumer Sciences education.

The organization focuses on the many different roles in people’s’ lives. Members of FCCLA develop skills for everyday life by cultivating critical and creative thinking, interpersonal communication and practical knowledge.

“When I first joined [FCCLA] I didn’t really talk to people a lot, but once I started I began to get a voice,” Mikahla Snowden (12) said.

As the only in-school student club with the family as its central focus, FCCLA students can volunteer at the local, state and national levels with opportunities at Shelby Farms Starry Nights and Tennessee’s Night with the Grizzlies.

The Spartan Chapter also participates in the three types of national competitions FCCLA offers. FCCLA’s competitive events programs offer members the opportunity to expand their leadership and continue to cultivate the life skills necessary in families, communities and workplaces. The members demonstrate their abilities individually and in teams to complete challenges, develop projects and show their proficiency and achievement within the program’s competitions.

The first, the FCCLA/LifeSmarts Knowledge Bowl, is a three-level team competition that challenges students’ knowledge of all aspects of  FCCLA teachings such as interior design and culinary arts. The second, Skills Demonstration Events, provide opportunities for members to demonstrate college and career-readiness. The third, Students Taking Action with Recognition Events, are competitive events in which members are recognized for proficiency and achievement in chapter and individual projects.

This January, the Spartan Chapter will have a chance to be recognized for their proficiency and achievement in a STAR Event.

The district wide competition in January will test the mastery of the Spartan Chapter members in competition with other schools in Memphis in the categories interior design, fashion design, culinary arts, etc. If they are top in their category, the team will move on to the state level in Chattanooga, Tennessee later on in the year.  If the team is top at state, it will then advance to nationals where the chapter will assess the team’s progress since starting the competition. Instead of competing with other chapters, they will try to enhance their original project to receive a higher recognition based on improvements.

The Spartan Chapter’s main focus is not winning competitions, but rather exercising the leadership skills learned in the classroom for the better of the community. By using their planning process — identify concerns, set a goal, form a plan, act, and follow up — the FCCLA’s Spartan Chapter can continue to impact the world around them.