T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Some of the Marshalltown High School FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) students, under the instruction of Sandra Tracy, have qualified for nationals in Washington, D.C. They include junior Kendall Brummel, senior Joseph Gil and sophomore Olivia Wise.

With less than four years at Marshalltown High School under its belt, students involved with the FCCLA (Family, Career, Community Leaders of America) program have been selected to compete in the National Leadership Conference July 6 through July 10 in Washington, D.C.

At the April 6 school board meeting, Family and Consumer Science Instructor Sandra Tracy received approval to go on the out-of-state trip. She said there are 35 students in the program, and four students who qualify – Senior Joseph Gil, Junior Kendall Brummel and sophomores Olivia Wise and Yi Thai.

Wise told the school board FCCLA helps students develop leadership skills and have a positive impact on communities.

“Attending the national leadership conference will give us a chance to learn from other student leaders from across the country,” she said.

After the board meeting, the students met with the T-R to talk about qualifying. According to Tracy, this is not the first year a Marshalltown student had a shot at nationals, as one did last year. However, they did not have the budget to fund the trip. This year, she estimates they need $11,000 for the trip, and they have some in the FCCLA account

One of the primary sources of finances for the account is FCCLA students helping with concession stands. The students have also planned fundraisers to reach the financial goal.

One of the fundraisers is T-shirts. Brummel said they are looking for business sponsors whose logos or names will be printed on the back of the T-shirts they will wear while traveling. Wise wants to hold a fundraiser coinciding with the annual middle school visit. She said Miller students will visit MHS every year to learn more about the school and they want to sell something to those students, but they have not decided what that is yet.

“Most likely a bake sale,” Wise said.

Tracy added that FCCLA students also sell samosas – fried pastries with either savory or sweet fillings and shaped like triangles.

“Those are popular, and this is the third time we are selling those,” she said. “We also want to do restaurant tip nights. The only thing is we are waiting for approval from the central office about all those fundraisers.”

The reason for the fundraising efforts is definitely the qualifying projects of the MHS FCCLA students. Brummel and Wise worked on a project together. They created an event, specifically a unified sports clinic for special education students and varsity athletes.

Gil did a qualifying job interview for a film editing position. He said it was like a simulator.

“I had to do my research, interview a few people about the experience of the job and make my portfolio,” he said.

HIs project actually ties into his future plans, as he intends to go to Marshalltown Community College for film editing.

Thai will compete in the national knowledge challenge.

The students received notification of their qualifications in March after the state competition. They all said they were surprised, especially Gil as he added there was a lot of competition in his category. Wise said they were happy to learn the news.

“We put a lot of work in over the spring break to make our project better,” Brummel said. “We were kind of surprised and shocked.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.