Selah students took home the gold as the Selah High School Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter had an outstanding showing at the recent Regional 7 Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Competition. Selah High School was the host of this year’s event.
All of Selah’s 13 competitors at the event earned a Gold rating and will advance to the State STAR contest this spring and compete for a chance to earn their way to the national event this summer. Congratulations to: Addison Ladd, Sarah Tamblyn, Ashlyn Knox, Aiyana Bauer, Parker Casey, Avery Goetz, Miley Maybee, Ella Buehler, Maury Falcon, Rosie Pandit, Gigi Gamache, Clare Richards, and Makenna Heinle.
STAR Events is the competitive program of FCCLA where students choose a competition project that relates to their family, community or future career. FCCLA is one of the District’s Career and Technical student organizations and also a Career and Technical Education Program.
Going for gold with their Focus on Children project, Addie Ladd, Sarah Tamblyn and Ashlyn Knox have been involved in three of the District’s parent engagement events this year. The trio participated in the Annual Read-or-Treat Night at the Robert Lince Early Learning Center as costumed story readers. The group also planned an interactive kindergarten math game for a parent engagement event at the early learning campus. Additionally, the team helped students feel the holiday spirit as they assisted with a Polar Express theme night at Selah Intermediate School, as well as facilitated an ELA focused station for one of the school’s parent engagement nights.
Participating with her Teach or Train project, Aiyana Bauer designed and taught three SEL lessons on Gratitude and Thankfulness for fourth grade students at Selah Intermediate School. Aiyana taught students about the importance of gratitude and how to demonstrate it in all areas of their lives. She also helped students create gratitude letters for support staff members at the school. Aiyana also challenged students to have conversations with their families and discuss thankfulness and everything for which they are thankful.
Parker Casey and Avery Goetz competed at the FCCLA event with their Chapter in Review Display. Parker and Avery took on the huge task of tracking all of the projects and events that Selah FCCLA has participated in this year, and created a display to highlight the work of the Chapter. The duo acted as historians and shared information about all of their classmates’ projects and all of the work it requires to run a chapter, including creating a program of work and a budget.
Representing Selah with their Sports Nutrition project, Miley Maybe and Ella Buehler collected demographic data on one of their classmates who is on the school’s soccer team, which included researching nutrition information related to athletic performance. Miley and Ella used their data to design a three-day nutrition and hydration regimen for their classmate and studied how that plan met dietary needs using a web-based analysis program.
Competing with her Chapter Service Project Display, Maury Falcon planned a Change for Change drive to raise money to support Project 700, a Selah School District service initiative that helps purchase warm winter clothing for local elementary students in need. Maury was able to motivate her classmates to raise nearly $900.00 in a week to support the cause. Additionally, Maury donated her time to shop for the clothing and also participated in delivering the items to families.
Rosie Pandit’s gold awarded project focused on her Sustainability Challenge where she planned a series of lessons for second grade students at John Campbell Primary School on the importance of recycling. Rosie creatively created a Picky Eater Monster, to teach students about what waste goes into the trash and what can be fed to the “monster” (recycling bins). Rosie also challenged students to make a concentrated effort to recycle with their family over the winter break.
Going for gold with their National Programs in Action project, Gigi Gamache, Clare Richards and Makenna Heinle planned two sets of lessons, one for elementary students and one for high school students on food allergies. In presenting to the younger students, the trio focused their lessons on how food allergies affect the body, but also explained how to be a good friend to classmates with a food allergy. While addressing their fellow high school peers, Gigi, Clare and Makenna taught Early Childhood Pathway students how to recognize and respond to allergies and how to analyze snacks for allergens. The teaching team also instructed students about the state laws for child care regarding allergies. Lastly, they used Clare’s and Gigi’s state FCCLA officer positions to promote both an allergy-friendly recipe contest and an allergen friendly food drive.
Additionally, Selah High School’s two FCCLA State Officers, Clare Richards, Region 7 Vice President, and Gigi Gamache, State Vice President of Community Service and Programs, were in charge of planning and serving as hostesses of the event for the eight local participating schools. Also, a special thank you to Michele Garretson’s Catering and Culinary Adventures classes, which created a yogurt parfait and waffle cookie for all of the attendees to enjoy. Michelle McCartney’s Events Management class also helped with decorations for the event and hosted games for participants to enjoy while they were waiting for contest results.
The Selah High School FCCLA Chapter is advised by Shari Brink and Maggie Uceny.
Congratulations Selah High School FCCLA STAR competitors!
