The Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc. was once called Family Homemakers of America. Now often referred to as FCCLA, it’s a non-profit organization for boys and girls all the way up through the 12th grade who are interested in family and consumer sciences. A national organization that brings together young leaders all across the nation, it helps these future leaders address issues that our society faces at home with family, at work and in the public sector.
While young, these kids face a variety of issues that many generations never faced before. At least things that would never be acknowledged out loud. They address things that are unfortunately common today, such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, teen violence, family problems and peer pressure. But they also focus on basic important needs like fitness and nutrition. Youngsters are also helped to explore what career options they may be best suited for and how to go about getting there so they end up in a job they both love and can make a good living from.
Young people involved in Family, Career and Community Leaders of America are given unique opportunities to learn and develop skills that are necessary in everyday life. They learn how to set realistic but ambitious goals, how to properly plan in order to meet those goals, decision making skills, problem solving skills and of course – good communication skills. Each one of these life skills are vital to becoming a well-rounded, successful person and future leader.
The unique thing about FCCLA though, is that all of the training and skill-building focuses around family.
FCCLA Stats
While it now operates centrally out of Reston, Virginia, it first originated in Chicago on June 11, 1945. In 2011, the FCCLA was almost 200,000 member-strong. Members are spread far and wide across the country in almost 7,000 different chapters. More than nine million young adults have participated in the organization since it was founded.
History
When Edna P. Amidon founded the FCCLA in Chicago back in 1945, it wasn’t called FCCLA. Back then it was known as Future Homemakers of America or FHA. Hero, which stood for Home Economics Related Occupations, was created to help members understand and prepare for jobs out in the real world which were related to family and/or the skills they were learning.
In July of 1999, the Future Homemakers of America underwent a facelift. Due to the majority voting for the name change at the National Leadership Meeting held in Boston, the name was changed to Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. This wasn’t the first time a name change had been brought up, though. In fact, it had come up several times and with no success, some states chose to separate from the organization and operate under new names that they chose.
The mission of FCCLA was better recognized and defined under this new name change and America took notice. The ‘new’ FCCLA found itself receiving national media coverage.
STAR Events
Perhaps one of the things that FCCLA is most known for is its STAR program, which stands for Students Taking Action with Recognition. Officially now recognized as a ‘competitive event’, these events give students a chance to compete and gain recognition for the communication, teamwork, public speaking and leadership skills they’re learning. They’re given the opportunity to put their skills to the test through hands-on, realistic simulations such as:
- Individual events – They work alone to accomplish specific tasks and goals
- Competitive events – They work together in a group as a team to accomplish specific tasks and goals
- Competitive events – They may work together on a team or alone and are judged by criteria that is set into place beforehand
FCCLA National Leadership Conference
For one week each year, selected members of the FCCLA across the country congregate in one city (the host city changes every year). Besides going to get new information they’ll bring back to their own state about the organization, they’re also given a chance to compete in the aforementioned STAR events for bronze, silver and gold medals. During this conference is also when the national FCCLA officers are selected each year.
The National Leadership Conference host cities have been and will be:
- 2010: Chicago, Illinois
- 2011: Anaheim, California
- 2012: Orlando, Florida
- 2013: Nashville, Tennessee
- 2014: San Antonio, Texas