Thinking of July at Chirstmas!

You’ve heard of Christmas in July? Well, at the national headquarters we’re thinking of July at Christmas. We’ve already begun thinking and planning for the 2009 National Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

We look forward an amazing week as FCCLA members go Beyond the Label to discover new leadership qualities through participation at USA Leadership Training, show off their skills with STAR Events, learn more about a future career with Career Explorations, and have a little fun too.

Of course national meetings aren’t just for students. Advisers have opportunities for professional development as well. As always, adviser input is crucial to our success. What workshop topics would you like to see covered at NLC?

Send us your feedback by commenting on this blog entry or by emailing Amy Doane at adoane@fcclainc.org.

A Kick in the Attitude!

If you enjoyed Sam Glenn's presentation at the FCCLA Cluster Meetings, he is offering his books for free download at www.AttitudeFCCLA.com.
In addition, the Ultimate Attitude Survival Kit for 2009, which includes his complete 7 DVD training series is also available. But act fast here are only 54 left before they are sold out! If you are ready to mix a little attitude with FCCLA, go to www.AttitudeFCCLA.com

Helping Hands Make Holidays Happy!

In Reston the weather has turned cold, the office is decorated for the holidays and full of yummy goodies just in time for the season. It is a perfect time for chapters to participate in community service projects. We’ve heard from chapters who serve in soup kitchens, collect items for food pantries and sew blankets for shelters. These activities can be a great team builder for your chapter, but if you haven’t scheduled your community service project yet, don’t worry, there’s another time of year that is also perfect for giving back.

FCCLA Week takes place February 8-14, 2009. Use this week to refill those food pantries, serve more meals and provide additional items to shelters in the community. Community organizations often seen an outpouring of giving during the holiday season, but their demand is so high that by the time February rolls around they are once again in need of help. This list of ideas can help you and your chapter officers plan for activities during FCCLA Week to get the entire school motivated and moving.

December is a big month for FCCLA advisers!

Several adult award applications are due this month, below are awards that are due on December 15th

• Alumni & Associates
  
• Distinguished Service
  
• Honorary Membership

Click here for applications

FCCLA Members: Japanese Exchange Scholarship is due January 6.

To read about other award & scholarship opportunities, please sign up for the Chapter Adviser Listserv to receive the E-Adviser.

Connecting With Your Network

FCCLA national staff has returned back to the office after four successful National Cluster Meetings in Providence, Jacksonville, Dallas and Cincinnati. During the Adviser Networking session used resources from the national office to discuss topics ranging from Perkins funding to filling out national program award applications. Frequently asked questions guided discussion and tip sheets helped advisers prepare for their project. So many advisers enjoyed using these FAQs and tip sheets that we’ve added them to our adviser resources online.

Advocacy
Career Clusters
Chapter Management
Community Service
Fundraising
Integrating FCCLA
Membership & Recruitment
National Program Award Applications
New Advisers
Perkins Funding
STAR Events
Using Technology
Working with Administration

Please use these frequently asked questions and tips from the national office to assist you on these topics or create workshops and materials for use in your state.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Do the Math

One: Every chapter begins with one FACS teacher!

Two: Try two new things each year. Start a new community service project, increase membership, take students to national meetings, etc. Pick two and make them goals.

Three: Encourage each chapter member to recruit at least three new members for Be Part of It! recognition.

Four: Invite four outside speakers to share their career with students.

Five: Use the five units of Power of One as an ongoing project for first year FACS students.

Six: Organize your chapter with at least six chapter officers: President, First Vice President, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Programs, Vice President of Public Relations, and Vice President of Parliamentary Law.

Seven: Take a seventh inning stretch! All good advisers know when to say “no.”

Eight: Work with officers to make a plan that includes at least eight activities throughout the year. Don’t forget fundraisers, recruitment, and recognition events!

Nine: Each chapter is comprised of at least nine members. You don’t need to have all your members in place to affiliate—all you need are the first nine and you can affiliate additional members throughout the year.

Ten: Increase the chapter by ten members next year.

Keepin Up With Mrs. Jones

At FCCLA we are always working to make sure that FACS teachers and FCCLA advisers have the tools needed for a successful department. We know that teachers use the Internet to find effective lesson plans and activities for their classrooms everyday. We also know that just because a lesson plan or activity can be found on the Internet doesn’t mean it’s been tested or will be effective. Therefore, we will be adding to our website a page for uploading and downloading lesson plans and activities. The best part of this addition is that each download has been tested and proven worthy of your attention because they have been submitted by FACS teachers just like you.

Please use the Lesson Plan form or activity form to submit and share your tools with fellow advisers. This Web page needs your ideas to make it a complete resource for all FCCLA advisers.As always, please use the comment section to list other ways we can improve our services to keep up with advisers!

Get With the Program

Those of you who read FCCLA’s e-Adviser know that we have moved our National Program Award Applications to an online only process for the 2008-2009 year. We’ve spent the last few weeks testing the new process and have received very positive feedback.

Highlights of the new system include the ability to type information and save for later, opportunities to attach pictures to your application, ability to review submitted applications, and much more. We hope this new system will allow more schools to apply for the awards.

Please send any questions about award applications, the online system, or national programs to Nicolle DiPasquale at progawards@fcclainc.org.

National Outreach Rocks!

FCCLA has partnered with The All American Rejects to raise money and awareness for Feed The Children. The All American Rejects will perform at the 2009 National Leadership Conference if FCCLA chapters sell 40,000 copies of their new album. The FCCLA chapter that sells the most CDs gets an acoustic performance at their school. Other prizes will be given out to top selling chapters. The All American Rejects will give back $3.00 from the sale of every $14.00 CD to benefit the FCCLA National Outreach Project in the chapter’s name. Visit the FCCLA Web site for an order form . For questions, please contact Tracy McKee with Feed The Children at tracy.mckee@feedthechildren.org or 405-945-4141.

Big Sky Suceess

This week I had the opportunity to be part of Montana’s Association of Career and Technical Education (MACTE) annual conference. While there I attended sessions on what today’s students need, using Career Clusters to improve students’ success, and integration of core academics. I was able to talk to several FCCLA advisers during the FACS division meetings to get their take on developments in education.

The FACS teachers in Montana, like all FACS and other CTE teachers, have a lot on their plate. Introducing Career Clusters to students isn’t an easy transition, but as we look to the future more and more students will need the early training they will receive from CTE programs.
FCCLA can be integrated alongside new and old curriculum to enhance students’ success.

As your state discusses curriculum guidelines, pathway requirements and course articulation, keep in mind that FCCLA programs and projects will help achieve your goals.

Affiliate Today for Free Materials!

Affiliate before November 1 and sign up for your free publication ! This year FCCLA is giving away your choice of The Chapter Handbook, The Essential Guide to FCCLA, or The Middle Level Guide as a thank you for affiliating before November 1.

Advisers and students both benefit from affiliating early in the year. While we encourage affiliation throughout the year, it is important to affiliate at least nine members right away to receive materials, mailings, updates and other resources helpful in the classroom. Subscriptions to Teen Times and The Adviser are based on affiliation and chapters who are not affiliated will not receive copies of these member magazines.

We are giving away free publications as long as they last! Don’t wait to begin the new year!

P.S. Like last year, all new chapters will receive a copy of The Essential Guide to FCCLA when they affiliate for the first time.

Saving money For Dummies!

Wiley Publishing, Inc. and FCCLA have partnered to offer a discount on their For Dummies and other titles. We have placed a special ordering form on our Web site for you to use. Each time you order a book through this page, you will receive a 20% discount and FCCLA will get credit for the purchase.

You’ll see that several For Dummies titles have been paired up with corresponding national programs and STAR Events. As our partnership expands more titles will be added. Wiley not only offers For Dummies books, but will be FCCLA’s partner in our leadership challenge.

We’ll have more about the leadership challenge in the coming weeks, but until then, take a look at our partnership. I’m sure you’ll be adding to your library soon!

What a Successful Week!

State officers and their advisers from 29 states finished Phase II of USA Leadership Training . More than 200 officers and advisers participated in visits to Capitol Hill to boast about the amazing things FCCLA and FACS education has done.

When it comes to telling others how important family and consumer science education is we are the only ones that can do it adequately. FCCLA has developed a one page description of our organization to help explain its tremendous reach. I encourage each of you do the same for your chapter to present to school board members, business and industry leaders, and, of course, parents.

Advocating our cause to all decision makers will keep FACS education in schools and well funded. Below are five tips for talking to key decision makers.

1. Be Prepared. Go into all appointments with “measurable data” to show your program improves education.
2. Know the Facts. Make sure you are aware of the impact that local and state Perkins plans have on your program.
3. Invite Participation. Whether it’s a school board member, a state legislator, or a potential sponsor, invite others to attend meetings and events to demonstrate your success.
4. Bring Your Students. There is no better proof of a successful program than a hearing it from a successful student.
5. Keep in Touch. Send thank you notes and copies of press releases to remind decision makers of the successful program they have helped create.

STAR Events Help Students Shine

Over the next few days and weeks it is likely you will take a peek at the new STAR Events Manual. Inside you’ll find several new changes for the 2008-2009 year. We are extremely proud to announce the details of two new events: Teach and Train and Promote and Publicize FCCLA!

Each of these events was created in response to adviser feedback. Each offers opportunities for students to explore their career and leadership potential. In Teach and Train students have the opportunity to develop a lesson or workshop plan and present it in a learning environment. Using the Planning Process, students will evaluate their work and investigate a career in education or training.

Showing the world the importance of FCCLA and FCS Education is the focus of Promote and Publicize FCCLA! Students will create a publicity plan for sharing FCCLA with their schools and communities. This event goes bigger than showcasing chapter events to build awareness for FCCLA’s impact on the students it serves.As you explore the new manual, please take time to share your comments on the events with us. Feel free to leave a comment below or email Edie Doane, Competitive Events Coordinator, at edoane@fcclainc.org.

Developing Relationships to Inflence People

Last week FCCLA’s Communications and Marketing Team sat down for the first of many discussions with other communication professionals from ACTE and major CTSOs. The goal of our meetings is to better CTE and CTSOs through cooperation and collaboration. At the national headquarters we often get so busy working on our own projects that we miss out on opportunities to work with other CTSOs. We realize that having a united voice is as important as working on individual projects that benefit FCCLA members.

This week FCCLA and several CTSOs participated in a “CTE Goes Green” event on Capitol Hill. An event sponsored by ACTE. National officers were able to meet with Members of Congress to promote the importance of Career and Technical Education and thus FCCLA.

Take a little time to meet with advisers from other CTSOs in your school to discuss their plans for the year. Perhaps there are opportunities for members to work together on community service projects, fundraisers, or public relations efforts. Cooperating and collaborating is good for everyone.

Membership Shake Up

Wow! I can tell the Be Part of It! kits are hitting schools. The office has received several calls this week all asking one question. “Where are the membership cards?” Don’t worry, we have an answer.

As with every organization or business, every so often a change in process is required in order keep moving the organization forward. Advisers will recall our move to the Be Part of It! kit a few years back. This year we have made membership cards available instantly online. Advisers will be able to print cards for their students as soon as they affiliate if affiliation is done through the FCCLA Web site. Or, if paper affiliation is the preferred method, cards can be printed from the Membership section of the site. However, the access through this section requires a username and password.

There are several reasons the national headquarters chose to go with this method, but the most important reason is to better serve advisers and students. We want to give teachers materials they need immediately. We don’t want advisers to have to wait for our processing time to have access to membership cards, lesson plans, videos, or information that can help build a successful chapter.

Unfortunately a minority of teachers has taken advantage of membership card distribution and do not affiliate their students. This only disadvantages students who want to be connected to the state and national organization. For this reason, we have password protected the membership cards.This new process will likely shake up the way advisers handle membership. As all new processes, this will take some time for everyone to get used to. At the national headquarters we are prepared for unknowns and want to help answer questions. The only way to know what advisers need is by communicating with them. So, please give us your feedback! Whether in the comment section here or in an email to me directly at adoane@fcclainc.org, we want to know what you think.

Return on Investment

Return on Investment or ROI is a business phrase used to describe the important gains that are made by investing in an opportunity with financial and human resources. We like to think that students look for ROI as much as we do when we are buying products or paying FCCLA dues. Much of what I do at the national headquarters is to make sure advisers have the tools and training needed to make FCCLA a success—to provide a return on students’ investment.

How many of your students joined FCCLA because they read a great article on their favorite program in Teen Times? How many joined because they saw their friends having fun?

Probably, several of you said yes to the first question. There are a lot of students who find out about FCCLA on their own, but I bet more students that say they belong to FCCLA to “have fun and get out of school.”

Obviously we want students to get more out of FCCLA than a day out of class (and they will whether they realize it or not!). Recently I was reminded that not all purchases are rational and when looking for return on investment, maybe things are simpler than we think.

At the national headquarters we want to make sure that Teen Times, The Adviser, National Cluster Meetings and National Leadership Conferences are packed with good information, breakout sessions, and other learning opportunities. After all, as adults we recognize that these opportunities make great fodder for college admission essays and provide valuable work experience. There are some students that recognize this too, but the majority of students want to belong to a group. While it may not seem rational, it is the return they are looking for.

Being part of a community is the most important ROI we can provide and as it turns out, we are giving back to ourselves. While students are getting the fun and friends they signed up for, advisers can also gain ground. All our national opportunities are wonderful, but the most learning happens at the local level. Students are more engaged if they are learning about FCCLA in class with their peers. They raise more money if they work in teams. We all know community service is more fun if it can be done with the community.

FCCLA chapters become families and they provide a sense of community to those looking to belong. Winning a gold medal is an amazing accomplishment, but it feels so much better to do it together.

As you prepare to recruit for the year, feel free to share your questions and favorite tips in the comments section.

FREE FCCLA PUBLICATION

Affiliate for the 2008-2009 school year by November 1st and receive one of three publications of your choice!

FCCLA is offering one FCCLA publication, FREE OF CHARGE, for all chapters that affiliate by November 1, 2008.

Which of the following FCCLA Publications would you like to receive?

• Chapter Handbook CD
  The FCCLA Chapter Handbook gives you step-by-step instructions for leading an FCCLA chapter. Filled with time-tested methods for helping students make the most of their involvement. Perfect for members and advisers.
  
• Essential Guide to FCCLA in the Classroom CD
  Integrating FCCLA chapters into classroom save time and energy and makes your teaching efforts more effective! This comprehensive Essential Guide details how to explore, set up, plan introduce, and evaluate co-curricular FCCLA. The CD contains worksheets, lesson plans, resources, and hyperlinks that you can personalize to meet the needs of you in-class chapter.
  
• Middle Level Comprehensive Guide CD
  The Middle Level Comprehensive Guide includes information on starting an FCCLA middle level chapter, FCCLA middle level chapter management, FCCLA resources, and nine national program sections. Each national program section will include ready-to-use lesson plans, a step one activity, PowerPoint presentations, and much more.
  
  Please note that the number of publications is limited and availability is based on a first come first serve basis

For more information please visit http://www.fcclainc.org/