Integrating Competitive Events

How does an adviser balance it all; developing lesson plans, teaching, grading, advising FCCLA members and coaching competitive events?  There seems to be too many things to complete in a 24 hour day, much less have a family and/or personal life.  So, what if there was a way to accomplish more and still maintain balance?   Balance can be achieved by integrating competitive events in the classroom.  So, where do we begin?

The first step that an adviser needs to look at is which events match up with the course standards.  Every course has certain requirements that need to be met, whether these are state requirements or the national standards.  When these standards are studied, it is clear that they match up with the objectives of different competitive events, whether these are STAR Events, Online Events, Skills Demonstrations or even the FACS Knowledge Bowl.  Some examples of these are: 

• The STAR Event Nutrition and Wellness can be matched up with the national standard:  demonstrate nutrition & wellness practices that enhance individual & family well being.

• The FCS Knowledge Bowl can be matched up with several national standards, like evaluate management practices related to the human, economic, & environmental resources. 

Once you match up your standards to the events, you can look at how to integrate these into your curriculum.  Most of the FACS classes are project based classes.  As a FACS teacher, I require all my students to complete a STAR Event project for every class.  Although not every student will be competing with it, the students learn time management, organization & planning skills, communication and presentation skills.  In addition, the grading for the projects has already been set up with the rubrics that are provided in the guidebook.  I even invite parents and community members to come in and listen to the presentations.  This is a great marketing tool that not only promotes the FACS Department, but also the students and school. 

The FACS Knowledge Bowl is a great way to recruit members to join FCCLA.  You can set it up where different classes compete against each other to win an ultimate prize, like a special field trip, class party, gifts cards, and/or attending the National Leadership Conference.  The winning team could attend the National Cluster Meeting, representing their school, to compete for eligibility to move on to competition at the National Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. 

As a FACS teacher, I am required to teach the National and State Standards for all of my classes.  I can spend hours planning the activities to meet these standards or I can utilize the resources provided by FCCLA Competitive Events, which will provide my students better opportunities and training than I can create myself.  Integrating Competitive Events in the classroom was one of the best suggestions that has made my job easier and more fulfilling.