Seniors Jessica Rogers and Ashley Thorpe carry one of the many boxes filled with donated cans of food that FCCLA members took to the Rice Depot on November 22. - photo by Tranice Hayes
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) has had a very busy and productive year so far, and have several more community service projects and activities left. So far, they have completed STAR events in Arkadelphia, a four day trip to Atlanta for an FCCLA cluster meeting, and the canned food drive for the Rice Depot.
Students and advisors (Ms. Holladay and Mrs. Harris) visited the Rice Depot in Little Rock on Monday, November 22 to personally deliver the cans to the warehouse and to perform different jobs to help the staff.
A few of the jobs included packaging
food items, labeling rice bags, filling bags, and separating food into piles for evaluation. The students learned several things about the Rice Depot, its fellow food distributors, and what they stand for. They were quizzed at the end and praised for all their hard work.
The cluster meeting in Atlanta took place for four days. FCCLA members and advisors left from Cabot High School at 6:00 in the morning Thursday, November 17 and returned Sunday afternoon. Sylvan Hills and Cabot students shared a chartered bus to Atlanta.
Over a thousand students attended the cluster meeting, eighteen of which were from Sylvan Hills. Of those students, sophomore Kasey Main, the only male, stayed in an entirely different hotel than the girls, who stayed at Embassy Suites. He shared a room with two boys from Prescott and one boy from Little Rock. "It was fun rooming with them; they were very nice," said Main.
During the conference, students went to various classes. Some classes featured motivational speakers. "I went to classes that talked about leadership, relationships, and how to handle problems among my peers," said sophomore Deja Smith.
Most students enjoyed the dance marathon class. During this class, teachers rotated between teaching their lesson and playing music. "Participants had to stand the entire class, but it was fun because every ten minutes or so they got to dance," said Junior Ymahn Anscombe. Prizes were given to the students who were most energetic.
Once the classes were over for the day, everyone went to explore Atlanta. Students visited the Coca-Cola factory, Hard Rock Cafe, Centennial Park, and an aquarium. Junior Cory Markum said, "Hard Rock Cafe was my favorite; we had a lot of fun there."
The weather change was unexpected by most of the students. "I thought it was going to be warmer in Atlanta than Arkansas, but I was wrong," said Markum. It was cold and windy in the city, but that didn’t stop many of the members attending the event from enjoying their stay.
STAR events took place in Arkadelphia on November 14th. Five FCCLA members (four competitors and one student judge) rode a bus to Henderson State University and competed with other schools in a variety of categories.
Sophomore Kali Milton said, "FCCLA is a great club that encourages members to help their community and become better leaders." Milton attended the cluster meeting in Atlanta, the STAR events, and
the field trip to the Rice Depot.
Most recently, FCCLA took part in
stuffing stockings for local underprivileged children with toys and other Christmas gifts that they would otherwise not have.
During the second semester, FCCLA plans to have a bake sale.
No new members are being accepted this late in the school year, but next August FCCLA will be recruiting hard-working, positive, and ambitious students aspiring to become better leaders.