Horizon Convention Center Hosts 2018 FCCLA State Conference

By: Mike Rhodes—

Muncie, IN— The  Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)  2018 State Leadership Conference was held at the Horizon Convention Center on March 8-10 in downtown Muncie.

Over 1,000 student members from across Indiana attended the conference.

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America is a non-profit national career and technical student organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public and private school systems.

The FCCLA organization helps students explore different careers and offers in-depth activities related to different career areas such as: Culinary arts, entrepreneurship, fashion design, leadership, communications, early childhood development, hospitality, and many more.

Sarah Lehman is a former state officer of FCCLA. She is a Ball State senior studying telecommunications and journalism with a concentration in news. (Sarah is currently an anchor at Ball State’s NewsLink, Indiana.)

Sarah would like to be an on-air television reporter initially, with hopes of becoming a television news anchor. At the FCCLA conference, Sarah was in charge of the state officer candidates. To become a member of the executive council (pictured below) students must first become state officer candidates.  “The new state officer candidates are mostly high school sophomores and juniors,” Sarah said. “I help mentor them. It’s a pretty extensive process to earn the right to wear that red blazer,” she said.

2018 FCCLA State Executive Council Members

“This conference is just great,” Sarah said. “There are many STAR events and categories for students to be part of.” STAR events  (Students Taking Action with Recognition) are competitive events in which members are recognized for proficiency and achievement in chapter and individual projects, leadership skills, and career preparation. Winners of STAR events go on to national competition. Sarah said, “Students take all year to plan and prepare for the state conference. Personally, FCCLA helped me choose what I wanted to do after college: to become an on-air television reporter. FCCLA helped me with my confidence, public speaking skills, and allowed me to connect better with other people. FCCLA is just a great program to be a part of.”

Ball State University has a FCCLA family and consumer science program, so during the conference, students were able to take tours on campus.

Brenda Osman is board chair of the Indiana FCCLA.  She said, “We were very happy with the Horizon Convention Center. The space was great for our conference and they really met all of our needs. The Horizon Convention Center is kind of a hidden gem. It has the largest space for the best cost. Compared to Indianapolis—it’s really a great alternative.”