The Other CTSO: Connecting Teachers and Students to Operate

Contributed by Allison Kreifels, National Consultant Team, 

For most of us, in just a few short weeks we will be sending our students out for another summer.  Even though we’re teachers, I don’t think you can find another teacher, especially a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher who really believes they have the summer “off”.  Summer is filled with National Leadership Conference, cleaning up from this year, and preparing for another year.

Most likely, part of that preparation is getting a Program of Work started with your chapter leadership.  Now It is also the perfect time to connect with other Career and Technical Student Organizations.  We all know that FCCLA is one of the most dynamic student organizations but we also know that not every student is going to join FCCLA.  By connecting with other CTSOs we can encourage more students to get involved in larger activities, have a united front when it comes to the importance of CTE education, and get great ideas from each other.  Instead of seeing FBLA, FFA, or DECA as our enemy, we should see them as another resource to build our chapter by recruiting new members and involve our members in more activities.

Consider some of the following ideas to start you on the road to Connecting Teachers and Students to Operate:

·         Plan a back-to-school night for all CTSO members.  By diving the cost between multiple organizations you can save money and begin recruitment right there

·         Plan a “friendly” challenge during CTE week.  Challenge other CTSOs with fun games during CTE week.  For the extra creative, connect the games with something that each organization does.

·         Work together to knock a community service project out of the park.  Using the power of word-of-mouth and the power of sheer numbers can be valuable when you are trying to do a community service project.  Getting more than one organization involved during a Habitat for Humanity build or to help clean the highway can make a task more fun for students as they interact and will help you get more accomplished in less time.

Let’s team up with other CTSOs this year and get going!