They say that sharing is caring, and on March 10, several Tioga senior FCCLA members were excited to share what their chapter has been up to at the monthly meeting of the West Grayson Retired School Personnel Association.
Student adviser and teacher Christi Crowe addressed the group first to introduce chapter members Emily Ballinger, Gabriela Cuellar, Lacie Gray and Mackenzie Rodriguez, who have each served the chapter in many capacities.
Rodriguez, the current chapter president spoke first and shared what the purpose of Family Career and Community Leaders of America is as well as the history of the program over time.
Many of the WGRSPA members shared memories of being a part of Future Homemakers of America, the program that FCCLA emerged from.
Cuellar, the VP of finance, shared the growth of the Tioga FCCLA chapter with 85 active members.
She highlighted the success of projects that students had done in the past as well as current service projects.
Joining the program last were Ballinger and Gray, who recently won the national championship in 2025 with Light Up Tioga, their chapter service project.
They shared their newest project that they have been working on since August.
The current project was designed to inform their rural classmates about STEM careers.
The project began when the district hosted the Texas Mobile Stem Lab in September for all students in first through eighth grade.
Gray explained that the project began when she and Ballinger were both looking at college and career options themselves.
“ As senior girls looking at potential career paths, we realized the need for our chapter to inform students about STEM-related careers,” Gray said.
Ballinger added to Gray’s point.
“STEM sparks in early childhood, and it is one of the most important jobs,” Ballinger said. “We believe that kids lack confidence because they don’t have opportunities to learn.”
With multiple partnerships those young women have volunteered in classrooms teaching about STEM careers, hosted a Family STEM Carnival Night and celebrated National Pi Day at their high school.
They are gearing up for one final event on Thursday when they host a Women in Stem Career Day at Tioga Elementary School.
Tioga ISD has been partnering with WGRSPA since 2016 to host a thirdgrade- and-senior book exchange, when the first class of seniors walked the stage.
Now, a decade later, the tradition continues, and with the help of Ballinger and Gray, the meaning behind the exchange is even bigger.
This year they connected the book exchange to their STEMosaurus Explorers project to promote both literacy and STEM.
They also said they are both looking forward to taking part in the book exchange with their Class of 2026 classmates and the current third graders on May 29.
All four seniors are excited to represent Tioga FCCLA along with 29 of their fellow members at the upcoming State Convention in April where they will again share what they have learned and will work for a chance at returning to Nationals in July.
