Cool Tools for Schools

Have you been searching for the a "cool tool" to use in your classroom?  Check out the resources available on Cool Tools for Schools-- presentations, collaborative work, research, videos, sideshows and much more!

Colorado CTE Regional Meetings

Have you attended one of the CO CTE Regional Meetings this year?  Let's talk a little bit about what you have learned from your experience!

• Using the new standards and alignments to CDE makes your program PWRful!
• Be passionate about what you do everyday.  If you aren't, your students won't be either!
• Are you willing to think outside the box?  How can CTSO activities cultivate a hands-on learning experience for your students?
• You are the choir.  Go SING!  Talk to your administrators, speak with your counselors, send articles to your neighborhood paper!

It's that time again- time to earn money for your programs and CTSO!

Whether its selling frozen cookie dough, money savings cards or peaches, every year FACS teacher are looking for the best fundraiser ideas. Share what has worked for your school and your program below!  

You want to go to culinary school? - Chicago Sun-Times

You want to go to culinary school? - Chicago Sun-Times

2010 National Leadership Conference

The 2010 National FCCLA Leadership Conference was held in Chicago, Illinois July 3-8. This was my first national conference as either a student or adviser. Lindsey Leuenberger-Klautch and I took 8 students to the conference and had a blast in the Windy City!The paperwork it takes to travel with students is mountainous and since we were taking a student from another district we had twice the amount of paperwork. I processed through the paperwork and we were set to go. At the opening and closing sessions, the national officer team built a skit around the theme “65 Years of Leadership”. The skit was cute and clever in the way it showed how FCCLA has evolved as an organization to meet the needs of the times without losing its focus on the family. The session was a little long for my liking but I enjoyed the recognition of what chapters have done and getting ideas of what I could do next year.

I attended the New Advisers Workshop series at the conference that was sponsored by the National Consultant Team. The first session focused on introducing new advisers to FCCLA and National Programs. The activities they used at the sessions were great to use on students and I can’t wait to use them. The last session focused on developing a Program of Work, which was helpful and clarified what a POW should look like and consist of. The best description is a calendar of what your chapter wants to accomplish. I was not able to attend any other professional development sessions due to being a STAR Event volunteer.

I was a room consultant for the Food Innovations event and was impressed the event and what they participants at the middle school level had accomplished with their projects. I think this event is great and took it and made it an assessment for my Introduction to Foods and Nutrition course. The students both at the conference and in my class enjoyed the opportunity to develop their own healthy recipe and designing a package to go with it. I would recommend for any adviser to volunteer for STAR Events on the national level because they give you a better understanding of what that event actually is.

My students and I really enjoyed the three special events at the conference. The 4th of July Party at the Navy Pier was a great way for all members to network, enjoy good food, and see an amazing fireworks display over the water. We also attended the White Sox game and had great time bonding as a chapter. The FCCLA Gala was a nice surprise because I had no idea what to expect. The Gala was a great way to cap of the conference and let the students have fun in a safe environment.

Overall, we had a great time at the National Leadership Conference. Please watch this video to see the amazing time we had I learned a lot about being and adviser and came home with many teaching resources. This conference is a great way to strengthen your skills as an adviser and a great way for students to develop as leaders. I hope to go again next year!

2011 State Review & Recruitment Ideas

This is my third year taking students to the State Leadership Conference. We took 14 students and all of them completed a STAR Event. I am continually amazed and overwhelmed at the amount of work that it takes to complete a STAR event and the time it takes for students to develop and refine a presentation. We had students complete in Interior Design, Fashion Design, Teach & Train, Culinary Arts, Focus on Children, Job Interview, Entrepreneurship, Recycle & Redesign, Nutrition & Wellness, and Chapter Service Project Manual. We had 10 students receive gold medals and become national qualifiers and four students receive silver medals. It may be an arduous process preparing for state but the outcome is well worth it. This is the best that our school has done at the state conference and we are really proud of our students.

A recruitment technique we do at our school is to take a week (or shorter) to introduce students in our classes to FCCLA. The first day the advisers share their story of how FCCLA has helped each of us. I would also recommend that you let your experienced FCCLA members share their stories as well because it speaks more than adviser stories. The next couple of days we develop FCCLA Stations that focus around teaching students about FCCLA. Students really seem to enjoy this time because they are engaged in fun activities. We try to focus each station around the State POW theme and focus each station with something about FCCLA. Some of our past stations have been Create STAR Events App (On Paper), Decode the National Program Text, Build a Cyber Cupcake (for no other reason than giving students food), Technology Through Time, Google your Way to FCCLA Travel, and Facebook Profile Ethics. We see a good return from students coming to meetings. I did not invent this idea but I wanted to pass it along.

FCCLA Membership

Integration of FCCLA STAR events into each course offered within the FACS department hopefully will increase membership and provide members with opportunities for leadership and recognition. I have been working on finding the fit of events with classes: Relationships- Interpersonal Communication, Career Pathways- Career Investigation and Job Interview, Catering and Nutrition & Wellness- Food Innovations. Developing a cocurricular approach is a win-win situation. Less projects and rubrics to develop for the class, students have a STAR event well on its way to completion for competition and FCCLA is promoted in the classroom.

This past year my officer team often met during lunch as our school has open campus and a 55 minute lunch. Sometimes it was bring your own and other times I provided lunch. I found that being creative with meeting time was essential to keeping the chapter active. The officers also texted information and I found that texting reminders was beneficial.

School display cases are a great way to promote my chapter. I have a lighted six foot display in the hallway within my department. It is amazing how many visitors to the building stop and read the information displayed during the evenings and weekends when community athletic events are being held in the building. School websites are also a great way to promote the success of your chapter.

FACS Summer Updates

The last week of June I attended 3 very interesting and educational days of updates.

The Sustainable Cuisine Workshop was held at the Colorado Mountain College, Edwards Campus. It was a great opportunity to learn about post secondary options for our students. The classroom building is new and easy to access. The Culinary lab is located across the street at the Battle Mountain High School.
Sustainable has different definitions but essentially it is knowing or understanding where your food came from and the impact it has on the environment and society. The concept has so many 21st Century learning skills that are applicable; inquiry and problem solving.

The Fitness Anywhere workshop was a workout! Robyn Smith of Positively Fitness instructed us in many exercises and activities that can easily be incorporated in our Nutrition & Wellness courses. In fact some could be used to just get the blood flowing in our students. All the activities used just a chair, table or step for props. She concluded with tips for mxing up the number of repetitions and the type of exercises. These included using dice or a deck of cards.

The ICAPS session was very informational and helped to validate our work with careers. Reviewing the Colorado Career Clusters and activities for career exploration in the classroom was great.

The FACS Program update in the afternoon was very informative. The CCCS Toolbox section is now on my favorites and I understand the information. Interpeting the five year trends and understanding the data. Updates in standards is sometimes a struggle yet it is great to see the FACS is in the lead with CTE courses.

Kimberly Baldwin

FCCLA Membership Recruitment Ideas

I have developed a co-curricular chapter at Windsor High School over the past 24 years. I feel that the co-curricular concept is the best membership recruitment tool. We have 3 teachers/advisors in our department, so we all present a week-long Intro to FCCLA unit to our respective courses. The consistency, personal touch, and information presented, lends itself to recruiting more members. It also helps the students understand the entire FCCLA organization, including the national, state, district, and local levels.

Of course, anytime you include food, students will come. We have Executive Officer Team meetings the first Friday of every month. We have started to include the entire membership and are looking forward to advertising that even more during the next school year. We serve a continental breakfast and the students seem to love that.

One of the strongest membership recruitment idea is taking students to conferences. I have especially found that student interest peaks when I have a student compete at the National Conference. It speaks volumes!!

FCCLA National Leadership Conference

I attended the 2010 FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Chicago, IL July 2-8. The experience was fantastic and I went back to school in August refreshed, motivated, and ready to start a new year with co-curricular FCCLA.

The keynote speakers, as always, were inspirational. I especially enjoyed the speaker at the Advisor's Recognition Session. She talked about how to find your passion and I took that information back with me to my Life Managementc class. I've also shared the info with parents and colleagues throughout the school year. Everyone seems to be interested in the topic. The workshops were very valuable as I can always learn more skills/techniques about how to integrate national programs more effectively, how to promote membership, and how to increase membership participation.

The networking with not only Colorado advisors, but advisors from all over the nation, is an experience I value. I love having the opportunity to network with other professionals and typically exchange business cards so that we can keep in touch with each other. Love the connections I make!