Be a STAR! Through our FCCLA chapter, members have the opportunity to participate in projects that can take them from district, state, and even national levels! STAR projects, standing for Students Taking Action with Recognition, cover many different aspects of FCS education and allow students to advocate for different causes through their own interests. Projects undertaken by members of David City Public School's chapter include Chapter-in-Review, Career Exploration, and Event Management. Chloe Zegers, who has participated in Event Management since 7th grade, reveals that doing these events develops skills that can be used in STAR and outside of it. “I think I've learned a lot of leadership and time management. And I learned a lot of people skills.”
And those skills do come in handy! This year, 7 of 8 events will be moving on to the State level, the participants in which have done STAR in the past. Having gone to state last year, many participants - and FCCLA advisor Mrs. Zegers - feel that state is the highlight of the STAR season. Getting critiques from district judges helps students to improve their projects and prepare for the next level of competition. “I'm very excited about going to state. I think that we will do well at competition. I think that the information we got from district judges… will help [participants] achieve higher goals,” says Mrs. Zegers, who has been helping students prepare for their events since December.
The STAR projects’ duration can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, so it’s best to start early. Many participants begin working on their projects at the beginning of December with the goal to finish them before the district competition, but make revisions to their work before state. If they make it to nationals, more revisions are made to make the projects their absolute best. Mrs. Zegers remarks that early preparation is key to success, and really helped this year in particular, with many participating FCCLA members having other extracurriculars to focus on as well as STAR. “As a group, we were more organized and prepared for STAR early on rather than waiting until the last minute.”
The State FCCLA STAR competition will be April 2-4 in Lincoln.