New STAR Event Demonstrations Available Online!

We know that leading an individual or team in one of the new STAR Events can be a tough job for chapter advisers. There’s not a whole lot of knowledge about what to expect and in the STAR Events world of rules and regulations, the unexpected can be a major fear. In an effort to simplify new events for both students and advisers, FCCLA has done a couple of things to ease their introduction.

First, we’ve stuck to familiar rules. Even though the past few years have seen the addition of several new events, we’ve been very careful to use a mixture of classic and innovative event components while trying to prevent the addition of more rules. Most of the structures of newer events can easily be compared to that of the events which have been in place for multiple decades. If you understand how to develop a STAR Events portfolio, the Environmental Ambassador and Fashion Design events should not be a challenge. If you know the rules for creating a display, you already know most of the rules for Food Innovations. If you are a new adviser, you might want to focus one year on only events with the same presentation style and ask an experienced adviser to help you become familiar with the rules of that style. Once you’ve gotten the structural rules down, you’ll primarily need to concentrate on the content that is laid out in the specifications and rubrics of each event.

The second thing FCCLA has been doing to help ease the introduction of new events is offering demonstrations and workshops on new STAR Events at the National Leadership Conferences and National Cluster Meetings. At the 2009 National Cluster Meetings, for example, FCCLA asked chapter members, state officers, and a few chapter advisers experienced in STAR Events to present presentations on the three new events. The presentations were developed by national FCCLA to maintain consistency at each site and are now available online for everyone to view. Check them out under “Resources” on the main STAR Events page of the FCCLA national website. The files are on the larger size so they may take a little bit of time to download, but this resource is worth it! These presentations probably won’t help you understand the presentation method for the events, but you will have a much better idea of the content that goes into each one.

As always, the most important thing to do when it comes to STAR Events is to read the rules carefully. Evaluate projects using the Point Summary Form and Rubric before competition to make sure your students completed everything and ask your state adviser any questions you might have early so there is time for your students to change anything you might not have understood correctly. Remember that successful STAR Events projects demonstrate a student’s ability to follow directions, their work throughout the year, and their presentation skills. There is no trick to getting a gold medal or moving on to the next level of competition beyond hard work and preparation.