We’ll step Off the Field to take a closer look at some of the Republic students who are competing in non-sports activities. Our report is brought to you by State Farm Agent Sarah Rader. Talk to her about how you can save money by combining your home and auto insurance.
This week, we step off the field to take a closer look at the FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) program at Republic High School. Nine students from Republic qualified for state competition at the recent FCCLA regional STAR event:
Taylor Edwards and Kylie Yates: Chapter Service Project Display “Patriotism”
Grace Trantham: Teach and Train
Addison Butcher: Life Event Planning
Evan Smith and Ethan Dalton: Focus on Children
Makena Mills and Cloey Wilder: Illustrated Talk
Megan Branstetter: Career Investigation
Advisor Andrea Carter says the success of the program, which sent 60% of its regional competitors to state, is exciting for her because of the time and commitment the competition requires of students.
“The students who competed this year are very self-directed and passionate about their topics. It warms my heart because these students are stepping out of their comfort zone and making presentations to total strangers,” Carter says. “Our students need to learn and feel confident while doing presentations and public speaking. They will need these skills in their future.”
Yates and Edwards surveyed fellow students about the meaning of Patriotism for their project.
“We found out students did not know a lot about patriotism and what it actually meant. So, we decided to make post-it notes to put around the school with information about the United States, history of our wars, and veterans,” Yates and Edwards wrote in an email. “Also, we have sold flag pins for $1 each to the Republic High School and Republic Middle School. We have sold over 100 pins and the money we are raising will go back to a local veterans nursing home.”
They says the growing success of Republic’s FCCLA program makes everyone better prepared for competition.
“We believe we feed off of each others’ success but not in a bad way. We all push each other to make our projects better,” they wrote. “We encourage each other to help out in our school and our community. We also encourage each other to succeed in the present and future.”