The Tioga Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Chapter made a successful road trip to the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, during the Fourth of July weekend, with multiple projects earning awards and special recognition.
Tioga’s FCCLA team traveled to the Orange County Convention Center July 5-9 for career exploration, networking and to compete against the nation’s best in the Students Taking Action with Recognition Events.
“It was surreal,” Tioga’s FCCLA Adviser Christi Crowe said. 'We've worked really hard for months and months, almost a year, and for it to come to a head like that was very emotional because the kids have worked so hard for so many months. Whether they were on that stage or not, we were proud of their work and just the fact that they were there because only the Top 2 from almost every state were there.' The FCCLA team's STAR Event performance was headlined by the trio of Emily Ballinger, Lacie Gray and Citlaly Zuniga, who won first place in the Chapter Service Project Level 3 category for their Christmas tree donation program called Lighting up Tioga, which helps low-income families through the Tioga Youth Sports Association.
Gray said she and her teammates were surprised to hear their names called after giving what they thought wasn't their best performance presenting their project.
'We couldn't believe that we got first place,' Gray said. 'I was sitting there, and we literally didn’t move, and Citlaly had to drag Emily and me up there.'
Gray emphasized that the group's primary goal was to help their community and bring awareness to their program but added that it felt good for their work to be recognized by the FCCLA judges.
'It was just such a cool feeling because we were just proud of each other for working on this project for so long and putting so much effort in, so to have other people believe in us, too, and for them to think we were the ones that they wanted to win was a mesmerizing experience,' she said.
Chloe Moore finished second in the Chapter in Review, Level 3 category for her presentation highlighting the work of the Tioga FCCLA over the past year.
'Hearing my name called for second place at the national competition was shocking,' she said. 'My project this year was a compilation of [our] best moments: the volunteer work, the money we raised, community interactions and everything in between. I never would've done this well if it weren't for our adviser, Mrs. Crowe, who coordinated pretty much everything included in my project.'
The Interpersonal Communications, Level 2 team of Isabella Lewter, Mackenzie Lewter and Kennedy Slay earned Tioga's third Top 10 finish for their Advisory Action Agency project, which evaluated and refined Tioga High School's advisory period by improving communication between the faculty and students.
Slay said the group was especially happy to finish as Texas' top team after finishing second to Centerville High School at the FCCLA State Leadership Conference in the spring.
'We're very competitive, so when we finished in second place [at state], we were like, 'Can we just not?'' she said. '… But it felt great because we put in a lot of work for this, and the results showed.'
Eighth-grader Daylie Payne wrapped up the competitive portion for the team, finishing outside of the Top 10 but earning a silver medal in Food Innovations, Level 1.
Outside of the STAR Competition Event, Tioga students again stood amongst the nation's best, with seniors Emma Cox and James Culp being one of the projects to be featured during the Families Acting for Community Traffic Safety National Program Showcase for their Arrive Alive program, which highlights the dangers of impaired driving.
'It's some of the best in the nation, and you have to apply for it, so there's no guarantee that you can get it,' Crowe said. '… James and Emma won first place at regionals and at state with their project, and so they got to talk to people and present for three hours.'
Crowe's second in command, Tioga academic adviser and English teacher Garra Ballinger, credited the team's performance to the determination of the students.
'They have to take ownership of it, and I think that's one thing Tioga kids do differently,' she said. 'We have kids that once they see that this is the bar, they want to rise above it, and it's in all areas. Just meeting the standard is not enough for them. They want more.'
Crowe thanked the Tioga community, including the fire department, the police department and the FCCLA Booster Club, for their support and helping raise enough money to fully fund the travel expenses for the group.
Crowe added that she hopes the team's success inspires more students to join the FCCLA program.
'I want people to see the value in FCCLA,' she said. 'Giving back to the community, improving your own skills that will help you, not just in high school, but in the rest of your life, because that's really what it's about: building strong communication skills, problem-solving, critical thinking and building positive relationships with their peers and with their families.'
