Future teen business leaders head to state contest
By WENDY SLEDD
Special to Leader-Press
Bullying prevention, recycling efforts, graduation parties and healthy food options are the topics that have a handful of Copperas Cove High School students hoping to bring home honors from the Texas Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Conference being held today and Saturday.
The students were able to defeat approximately 1,400 students at the regional conference which extends from Lampasas to Texarkana and includes all Dallas County schools. Students went into their contests confident and prepared. With so many students competing, the entire Waco Convention Center was busting at the seams with all sorts of projects from Fashion Design to Culinary Arts. Under FCCLA Advisor Jana Shurtleff, CCHS student Serena Villa captured 1st place in the Advocacy category with her project which included hosting Bullying Prevention Week at CCHS.
“The highlight of this week was the Hand Someone a Compliment project where she and our chapter solicited for anonymous compliments during the lunches. She along with the students in our FCCLA chapter and Counseling and Mental Health class sorted the compliments and distributed them to each student following the Bullying Prevention Week,” Shurtleff said. “We estimate that some 4,500 compliments were delivered and every student at CCHS received a compliment. This project is an annual project and has proven to promote positive talk and communication among the students at CCHS.”
Villa said FCCLA’s regional conference was a lot of fun, but she is looking forward to competing at the state level.
“It’s been great to be able to watch all of our hard work pay off. It’s been a very rewarding experience,” she said.
Also under Shurltleff advisement, CCHS students Nicole Martinez and Allison Evans will present their project in the Environmental Ambassador category at the state conference.
“Nicole and Allison created a program in conjunction with Copperas Cove HEB, providing recycling options throughout the business’s operations,” Shurtleff said. “They were tasked with educating others about the benefits of recycling. This project is ongoing at HEB, and we appreciate HEB’s willingness to help out with this project.”
For Evans, the project exposed her volunteerism.
“The competition really opened my eyes to getting involved in the community. It was a fantastic experience and State will be even better,” she said.
CCHS students Hailey Hensley and Katelyn Sloan garnered 2nd place in the Life Event Planning category under the advisement of Teacher Amy Loughran. Hailey and Katelyn were tasked with planning a graduation party titled Blast from the Past. They had to create a plan, timeline, and cost analysis of putting on the event. Since they are both seniors, they are using some of classroom lessons to plan their own graduation party, Loughran said.
Also headed to the state contest are Cassidy LaPierre and T’Keya Logan who competed in the Food Innovations contest, receiving 2nd place. The two seniors developed a new healthy food alternative that could be sold by street vendors at a carnival or big event. They designed a turkey wrap and corn bean salad recipe, the packaging and performed a nutritional analysis of the food.
The state contest is held in Corpus Christi through Saturday. Winners will advance to the national leadership conference in Washington, D.C. July 5-9.