FCCLA Integration Workshop

I attended the FCCLA Integration Summer Workshop on Monday; June 22, 2015 at the Lowry Conference Center. Lenora Reid, National Consultant Team, was the presenter. What an engaging and fun day! I learned a variety of new ways to integrate FCCLA into my classroom and am excited to try several of the ideas. I will highlight the three ideas I plan to implement.

First, I loved learning about the Jenga game. She had us get into groups of 6 and we played Jenga with questions from the Step One National Program. This would be a great way to have all students complete Step One and I plan to submit their names for recognition at the State Conference.

I really appreciated how Lenora taught us how to recruit, retain, and recognize FCCLA members. I plan to be more cognizant of the recognition and will encourage it in our local organization. Ideas include officer pins, end of the year banquet, and a membership point system, that I have utilized, but we have not used in the past few years.

A third concept that resonated with me was putting the opening and closing ceremony in the script for officers for use in monthly meetings. I loved this idea and am certainly going to do this next school year.

I am excited to start the 2015-2016 school year by implementing these three major reminders and learnings. Thank you for having her come to Colorado! It is greatly appreciated.

2015 CAFCS Conference

I attended the CAFCS Conference on Saturday; April 24 2015 at the Ranch complex in Loveland, CO. The theme was Trends in Education. Breakfast was served to allow for networking of CAFCS professional. This is one of my favorite things about being a member of AAFCS since 1982. I love the networking opportunities at AAFCS/CAFCS conferences that allows me to dive deeper into the FACS content.

Following the breakfast, conference attendees were treated to a presentation by Katy Blatnick-Gagne' on Technology Trends. Katy is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in educational technology and had a wealth of information for us. I learned new concepts and had other concepts reinforced. It was a terrific learning opportunity!

Some Colorado State University students presented their Colorado legistative action boards. This opportunity is also very valuable. I appreciated the time that the students spent on researching, developing an engaging board, and educating us on the current legislative bills.

The new officer team was installed and I will be serving as the President-elect. I am excited to have this opportunity to give back to the profession that I have loved being a part of the past 30 years.

2015 FCCLA State Conference

I attended the 2015 FCCLA State Leadership Conference on Thursday; April 9 through Saturday; April 11. Our school district had five FCCLA members attend and two advisors. Four of the five members competed in a STAR Event. Those events include:  Job Interview, Career Investigation, and Fashion Stylist. They learned so much. I was a co-chair of the Career Investigation STAR Event and had a great time helping with the coordination of that event. I learn so much when I do this. It was a long day as we had many participants. I enjoyed interacting with the judges a little bit and also was able to catch up with the other co-chair.

We enjoyed the multi-media presentation and the opening session. Great, inspirational stories were brought back to my classroom. The banquet was delicious. We were unable to view the session during the banquet as we were in a room with no audio. That was frustrating as we missed out on the announcement of the 2015-2016 State Officer Team, something that I look forward to every year.

The dance and movie were attended by our members and they thoroughly enjoyed their time that evening. The passing along of this information is crucial to recruiting new members, in addition to the success that members had in their participation of a STAR Event. It is amazing to me how word of mouth and photos from previous years encourage students to get involved in FCCLA.

It was a great experience, once again and I can't wait to bring students next year. Our goal is to have more students attend!

2013 FCCLA National Leadership Conference

The 2013 National Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN was truly a time of reflection, professional motivation, and inspiration! I continue to be amazed at the tremendous opportunities that FCCLA provides to advisors and members. Once again, the conference made a huge impact on me.

The networking that the NLC allows is very meaningful to me. I was able to discuss FCCLA program of work ideas with other advisors and that is always very helpful. I started back to teaching in the fall with some new ideas. I enjoy not only networking with the advisors from Colorado, but the advisors from other states as well. The workshops are always great.

When a student completes a STAR Event and goes on to compete at the NLC, it's always a learning experience for me. This past conference was no different. I love the challenge as an advisor and I always learn something new that enables me to help future FCCLA members as they prepare their STAR Event.

I had a terrific experience, yet again, at the 2013 FCCLA NLC.

Departments of Human Services and Education Provide New Scholarships for Future Teachers in Early Childhood Education

The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) Office of Early Childhood and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) announced today the availability of up to $400,000 in scholarships for students in Colorado’s community colleges who want to teach young children.

Through a combined effort from CDHS and CDE, Colorado’s Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant is contributing $200,000. Colorado’s Community College foundations are matching those funds with an additional $200,000. The scholarships will be awarded to students who intend to work in early childhood education and are studying at one of the state’s 16 community colleges.

The Early Childhood Professional Development Team is excited to share initial information about Early Childhood Scholarships at local community college programs in Colorado. 

- See more at: http://www.cde.state.co.us/early/earlychildhoodscholarshipscommunitycolleges