CATFACS Winter Conference

As second semester gets underway, and I feel moderately refreshed from winter break, I start to look forward to attending the CATFACS winter conference. The 2011 conference was the third time I have attended, and I have to say, as always it was an overall great experience. For me, one of the best parts of being at the conference is seeing teachers from all over the state who are experiencing the same things I am, who offer advice and praise, and who join together to create a family of educators with the same goal in mind. The positive support and encouragement felt while there, and the amount of resources I walk away with are enough to make a new teacher feel like the world of teaching FACS and advising FCCLA is not so scary after all.

One of the reasons I decided to become a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher was because of the close connection I felt to my advisor at Colorado State University, Dawn Mallette. From the moment I met her during an advising appointment she made me feel important in a sea full of students; a connection I had never felt with another adult on campus. She listened when I needed her, and offered countless pieces of valuable advice that helped me succeed in my college years. Through the courses I took with her, it was clear to see her commitment to Family and Consumer Sciences education and the FACS community. The connections she had in the FACS network seemed so genuine and valuable to not only her professional life, but her personal life as well. Seeing all the connections she had and collaborations she was a part of inspired me to strive for a similarly strong network of supporters and friends; thus my reason for joining CATFACS.



Of course, attending CATFACS is not just about the networking and connections. It always provides me with some great resources to take back to the classroom and a refreshed outlook on teaching, which in turn makes me a better teacher. Dr. James Rouse’s keynote speech was inspiring. He really made me think about the everyday choices I was making in my life. Especially those pertaining to the wellness of my mind and my body and how closely connected the two are. Hearing someone speak so positively about life and how the daily decision we make impact our overall health, motivated me to make simple changes. The workshop by Elaine DeBassige also gave me some food for thought. Her methods for understanding relationships have helped me better navigate the way I approach my students when an issue arises. I now try to understand if there is some underlying issue going on first, and then go from there to find a solution. She spoke with a strong neutral tone, which made it clear how important it is to hear both sides of the story. These two parts are the ones that had the biggest impact on my overall experience at the conference this year.
In the short time I have been part of CATFACS and a FACS teacher, its easy for me to understand the importance of this professional network. The amount of tools I add to my educator’s toolbox each time I attend is amazing. I always feel energized and ready to improve my work in the classroom after hearing all the ideas shared between teachers and industry professionals. It is also a great outlet for finding connections to individuals in the industries that relate to our curriculum. To be honest, without a network like CATFACS and all the wonderful people involved, I don’t think I would have enjoyed my first two years of teaching nearly as much as I have.

Why Professional Organizations?

ACTE, CACTE, CATFACS, AAFCS, and CAFCS---what do all these acronyms stand for? They are the acronyms of professional organizations that I am a member of. Professional organizations are critical to a professional's career. I am a firm believer in belonging to at least one professional organization related to a person's career. Professional organizations associate you with people in your field and they offer several benefits to you as a member.
Typically, a professional organization publishes a research journal that includes cutting edge research and valuable resources that can be utilized in your profession. You may also have access to newsletters that will update you on current events and happenings. Another benefit includes networking and making connections with others in your profession, in addition to finding mentors that you can ask questions of and have professional conversations with. A majority of professional organizations offer annual conferences where you can improve your content knowledge through workshops, seminars, and keynote speakers. Vendors are usually present at conferences as well to enable members to connect to them and their services offered. A professional organization most likely will have web access including, but not limited to, webinars, blogs, and downloads. JOIN!! They are good source of positive energy and very beneficial.

State Conference 2011

This was the second year I took students to state conference. I brought six students and all them competed in STAR Events. I am proud to say I had two national qualifiers. Those two put so much time and energy into their projects, I was very happy for them to have made it to nationals.

Again, I volunteered to be an event chair. This is one of the best ways to become more comfortable with the events. It is so much fun to talk with students before and after their events. We were located in a hallway were I was able to stop students heading to their events and ask them questions. It was fun to give them a little boost of confidence before they headed to their judges. Because of all the interaction between students, judges, and getting a deep look at many projects, this is the best way to learn about STAR Events and feel more confident in explaining the events and rubrics to potential competitors in future years.

Luckily, I did not have trouble getting students interested in competing at state. I was pleased with the number of students I had this year. I do not put much pressure on students because it really needs to be their drive that gets a good project done. I set a deadline before registration was due for them to meet with me with detailed plans for how they would get their project completed. I checked in with all of them about a month later. The week before state, each group presented in front of our members and we used the judge’s rubrics to give them feedback.

As far as recruiting ideas, we will update our display board to be used at “Club Rush” in August. When we returned from State this spring, it motivated a few new students to consider joining the chapter next year. I personally encourage those students who really stand out as potential assets to our organization and those who need something positive in their lives. This last spring I had two new students who moved from out of state and they joined quickly to have something to belong to. My biggest advice to newer advisers is to jump right in and get involved at the district and state level because the teachers you will work with are very helpful and the more you learn, the more comfortable you will be in getting your students involved.

CO FACS Update- Summer Workshop Series

Check out the Prezi from the CO FACS Update from the FACS Summer Workshop Series.

Consumer Issues Conference

I attended the Consumer Issues Conference on the University of Wyoming campus last fall. The theme was Unlocking the Digital Marketplace. The workshops and plenary sessions revolved around this theme. This is a conference that is held every fall and it is a credible and quality conference that has current and up-to-date consumer information.

I had the opportunity to network with professionals who are experts in their respective fields. I met Shelley Glause, the regional director of the Better Business Bureau, located west of Windsor. She was willing to make a presentation on "Identity Theft" to the Life Management course I taught this school year. She has also agreed to serve on our advisory committee for the upcoming school year. I appreciated the depth of content knowledge that I was able to attain and it is very useable in my teaching. I shared information with the technology department in our school district, the business teachers, and fellow FACS teachers.

I write this blog to encourage you to attend this conference if you are looking for a way to enhance and deepen your content knowledge base. The Fall 2011 conference theme is Pills, Potions, and Profits. You can log onto www.coloradoafcs.org to access the information. I highly recommend it.

FACS Mentoring Program

I have had the opportunity to participate in the FACS Mentoring Program over the past 2 years. I have to admit, it has been one of the best programs I have been a part of over the course of my 26-year teaching career. It has been a positive experience.

There are many reasons why I've enjoyed the Mentoring Program. First of all, I have had the opportunity to meet teachers in the field who have just started teaching or who have taught before, but are now returning to the profession. The enthusisam that is generated through interactions like these is invigorating. We would have meetings to discuss a variety of different topics: advisory committess, FCCLA, FACS curriculum, discipline ideas, and state reporting. The benefit to presenting this information is that I have to know it in order to share it. Being a mentor allows me to dig deep into information that I need to share.

Secondly, the personal connections that I have made with the Northern Colorado mentees has been such an awesome experience. I love knowing who the teachers are in the various schools and getting to know them on a personal level. I love the fact that we can email each other with not only professional questions and concerns, but personal ones as well.

Lastly, the support for new teachers that is provided through the FACS Mentoring Program is very valuable. There is so much to know, to learn, and to implement as a FACS teacher and this program helps chunk it down and allow new teachers to learn as they go through the first 1-3 years of their teaching experience.

I have learned so much through this program and developed friendships that will last a lifetime. For that, I am thankful.

FACS Mentorship Experience

As a second year teacher, the amount of information that I still need to understand is large. Being a part of the FACS mentorship program this year was very beneficial. As a part of the program, I attended cohort meetings, a daylong training in Denver for all CTE mentee educators, and the CATFACS conference. My mentor teacher also came to my classroom one day to observe my management and presentation techniques. Overall, the experience was very worthwhile.

Throughout the program, I was really able to get a better understanding of completers, credentialing, Perkins funding and articulation. As a new member to my district, I was just following what others were doing. However, the mentorship program showed me how important it was that I was on top of recruiting students, making sure they are taking more than one of the Core classes and both semesters of the occupational classes. Our program approval and articulation agreements are completed at the district level, which means that I need to be an active part of taking new information back to my district, as well as being extra accurate with my completer/ VE-135 data. Also, I gained a better understanding behind the origin of Perkins money, how it is distributed, and the areas in which it can be spent.

With each passing year I am sure I will gain more knowledge, but this year I became even more comfortable with FCCLA at the local, district and state level. I had a district officer and was able to speak with my mentor teacher about the experience and share in the questioning sessions. I also signed on to be a district consultant and am looking forward to the experience. I hope to get a better idea of how to plan the conference, prepare students on an even higher leadership level, and feel more comfortable with running students at the State level. This year I also volunteered to be an event chair which was a wonderful experience. I was able to really delve into an event, learn the ins and outs, and even be able to incorporate it into my classroom. In the year to come, I am looking forward to making FCCLA more intra-curricular in my school and developing activities that help retain members and build my program.

Membership Ideas from Cherry Creek

I have to brag on my students to start my blog...

I took 21 students.

Of those 21 students...18 of them received a Gold.

Of those 18 Golds...15 of them had call backs.

Of those 15 call backs...12 of them place in the top three.

Of those 12...5 of them won 1st place!

Of those 5...3 are going to Nationals!

I think a year like this has been the biggest recruitment tool yet! Each student who went to state conference came back more excited than ever to make Creek FCCLA successful. They were not only excited for their own awards...but were each other's best cheerleaders. When they came back to school - their classmates became even more interested and excited to join FCCLA next year.

One thing that helped us this year was we did a quick intro about FCCLA in each FACS class - the officers came in and talked about the basics of FCCLA and invited each person to attend a pizza lunch the next day to learn more. We had a good turn out of students - 10 extra large pizza's did the job as we were able to increase our membership to about 80 members this year. At the pizza party, we had a slide show going of last year's activities, had past projects displayed, Teen Times magazines and candy were on the tables as centerpieces, and the officers mingled with the students to answer any questions they had. This was a huge success. We did it at the beginning of each semester and are looking to repeat this again.

2011 State Conference and Recruitment

This was my second year taking students to the state conference and it went very well. I only took 3 students this year but whether its 3 or 13 I think its worth it. It was a less stressful experience this year since I already knew what to expect. It's always a great feeling to walk into the hotel and see all the students dressed up and excited for the conference. As always, the keynote speaker was fabulous and he got the conference off to a great start. That night was spent rehearsing a few more times for my students' event the next day and giving some last minute tips. The next day and a half were a whirlwind of activities that included me judging, the banquet, dance, and my students getting a silver medal! They came home with lots of great stories that got members excited for next year's FCCLA conferences.

Speaking of next year... the first big recruitment opportunity we have is our school's club fair. Here we set up a booth with a big poster board that has lots of pictures of what we did the previous year. Another thing I do is make sure the FCCLA logo is seen around school whether it be on posters advertising our upcoming events or wearing my FCCLA apron or shirt. One thing I have learned about keeping members is to give responsibilities to as many members as possible. For example, besides our officers, two students will be in charge of planning lunch, another is in charge of planning community service, etc.

Membership

This was my seventh FCCLA State Leadership Conference and second as an advisor. The experience between student, alumni, and advisor is completely different and each comes with new challenges and opportunities for growth. I sometimes miss the days where I just show up and compete but I believe that I enjoy the experience as an advisor the most. I enjoy preparing my students for their events and watching their excitement and nervousness grow and finally bring them much success as they meet new people and experience new things that they never knew existed. I have seen that they are apprehensive on what the conference will bring when we arrive on Thursday and I love to catch their slight smiles and laughter at the opening session and keynote speaker as they start to allow themselves to have fun. The late night of preparing and calming the students for competition tomorrow maybe tedious but it is all a part of the experience. The next day I usually spend as a competitive event judge to see what students have accomplished and to gain a better understanding of what that event asks of students. It brightens my day after the long competitive event process to hear the enthusiasm of my students as they give me a play by play of how their competition went. At this point I am a proud advisor. The rest of the evening is special and I can see the transition from apprehension to full blown fun as they dine, dance, talk, and laugh; which was always my favorite part of the conference as a student. The next day brings success and lessons learned as the students receive their medals. There has been several times where student’s expectations do not match their performance and it is tough talking them back to being proud of their accomplishments. I have been fortunate to have had my Culinary Arts team win first place gold medal in the Culinary Arts event and that truly has been my highlight so far as an advisor. The stories the students share with their friends and families will last a lifetime and I am glad that I can help give that experience to my students. My recruitment idea is called FCCLA Logo Blitz. The event will last about two weeks and culminate in a social event/ meeting for current and prospective members. At the start of the event, large poster of just the FCCLA logo and the words “is coming” are hanged up around campus. Be sure to move posters every other day to keep the students interested. Also have announcements that say FCCLA is coming during the daily announcements. The next week you hang posters with the FCCLA logo and the date and time of the meeting and current members start spreading the word about the benefits of FCCLA to everyone they can. You also want to develop two 30 second voice commercial about the benefits of FCCLA that current members can perform on the daily announcements. The social event should have a fun activity for all students and food for all. Current members should share stories and show medals and projects. The meetings should just be a small introduction to FCCLA to get them excited and come back for a formal meeting to get involved.