CONTACT: JIM MORRIS |
Vol. 43, No. 54
July 15, 2009
Trenton Newspaper, 2 Missouri Schools, Win National FCCLA Awards
A daily newspaper and two FCCLA chapters in Missouri received special recognition this week (July 13) at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America National Leadership Conference. The national FCCLA meeting is being held July 12-16 in Nashville, Tenn. The award winners are:
- The Trenton Republican-Times, a daily newspaper, received the 2009 National Outstanding Media Award.
- The Humansville R-IV School District FCCLA chapter won the 2009 National Community Service Middle School Award.
- The Troy Middle School FCCLA chapter, Troy R-III School District, won the 2009 STOP the Violence Middle School Award.
The Trenton Republican-Times was nominated for the media award by the FCCLA chapter at Trenton High School and its advisor, Connie Hoffman, to recognize the paper’s significant coverage of FCCLA activities. The Trenton High School chapter has 169 members; the middle school chapter has 121.
The award was accepted by the newspaper’s editor, Wendell Lenhart.
“The Trenton Republican-Times has helped to convey that FCCLA has changed with the times, and its programs and activities address the needs of the 21st century,” said Hoffman. “The outstanding media coverage the chapter receives has supported a positive image in the eyes of both students and adults in their community for more than 60 years.”
The Humansville School District chapter received the National Community Service Middle School Award and a cash award of $1,000. The goal of the chapter’s community service project, “Stop Hunger,” was to support the local Harvest Fellowship Food Pantry. The food pantry serves about 250 families annually but had been without food from July through September of 2008.
To raise money and collect food items for the pantry, the chapter’s 19 members, under the direction of advisor Jan Hankinson, held a school-wide food drive and placed collection containers at local businesses. More than 6,000 items were collected and donated to the pantry.
Students in the Troy Middle School FCCLA chapter received special recognition for their STOP the Violence project, a peer-to-peer outreach initiative that empowers young people to recognize, reduce and report the potential for youth violence. The Troy Middle School FCCLA chapter has 291 members; their teacher and advisor is Renee Pagano.
The Troy project, “A Person is a Person,” educated members of the school and community about the correlation between having a positive sense of self and the approach to ending school violence. FCCLA members distributed materials to students provided by the Missouri School Violence Hotline and arranged for fellow students to attend a presentation of “Walk a Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes.” Members also presented a workshop on self-esteem and bullying to elementary school students.
FCCLA is a national student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and address personal, family, work and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education. FCCLA has more than 220,000 members and nearly 7,000 chapters from 50 state associations and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
FCCLA is unique among youth organizations because its programs are planned and run by members. It is the only career and technical in-school student organization with the family as its central focus. Participation in national programs and chapter activities helps members choose to become strong leaders in their families, careers and communities.