(This is an archive story, please refer to byline for author name)
By Miguel Sesmas
On April 1, FCCLA members competed at their State Competition in the hopes of advancing to nationals. Four members of the organization competed with two advancing to the next level. Ashton Davenport took first place in “Serving up Success” and Sage Torres third in “Cupcake Presentation.” Angel Tovilla and Cheyenne Rushing won first place in “Food Innovation” and will be competing at Nationals on July 2-6 in Denver, CO.
“I am very, very accomplished and proud of how hard me and Angel have worked on this project, and I'm so glad that we get to go into the next round of competition,” Rushing said. “When I first found out we advanced, I was completely overwhelmed with so much joy and a sense of accomplishment that we had actually won.”
At State, Rushing and Tovilla competed against 16 other teams and placed first overall. Their goal was to make two cookies with less than 10g of sugar each that appealed to high school students.
“These two students worked extremely hard, and it’s good to see that all of their hard work paid off,” FCCLA advisor Kaylie McPherson said. “I’m excited to see what happens in Denver in the summer.”
Under the direction of McPherson, the organization has made it to Nationals four times and placed at state over 20 times.This is her ninth year as FCCLA advisor, but her experience runs much further back.
“My first experience with FCCLA was at my last school, South Hills,” McPherson said. “I started the club at that school because it seemed like a great opportunity for high school students to have fun with cooking and learn more about what the food industry is like.”
Although the organization has had plenty of success in the last couple of years, some feel that the organization is underexposed.
“I do feel like FCCLA is underrecognized, and I feel this way because we are a very small organization at our school compared to the other departments,” Rushing said. “With this it is very easy for us to be overlooked by others, but it is a very fun experience like no other.”
Students start practicing early February and March to be ready for competitions in October and November.
“Practice, Practice, Practice! We have early morning practices up until competition,” McPherson said. “Baking, cooking, presenting etc. I try to give them all of the advice and feedback I can before I send them out to compete. Usually, I look for that edge or uniqueness that will make us the best or make us stand out against the others.”
These students work incredibly hard to stand tall above the rest. Putting in an insane amount of hours as well as effort.
“I think that FCCLA is such an amazing opportunity to learn and to grow, and it has definitely helped me a lot,” Rushing said. “I’m so excited for nationals and to see how we improve. I can’t wait!”