210,000+ members annually, 6,100+ Family and Consumer Sciences advisers, 4,500+ chapters across the nation, 4,200+ Competitive Event participants annually ,17,000,000+ U.S. citizens on average are reached annually through community service, and youth-led projects, $13 Million+ in scholarships. 85% of FCCLA members have a 3.0 or higher GPA 73% of FCCLA members take advanced courses 56% of FCS teachers believe FCCLA has made teaching more meaningful and engaging to students. 1.-FCCLA-Impact-and-Overview.pdf (acteonline.org)
Members develop skills for life through: character development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge, and career preparation. FACTS | FCCLA (fcclainc.org)
Involvement in FCCLA offers members the opportunity to expand their leadership potential and develop skills for life – planning, goal setting, problem solving, decision making, and interpersonal communication – necessary in the home and workplace. ABOUT | Arizona FCCLA (azfccla.org)
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) helps young people become leaders with student-directed learning in Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) education in the areas of Culinary Arts, Early Childhood Education, Education Professions, Fashion Design and Merchandising, Hospitality Managment, and Interior Design. Since 1945, FCCLA members have been making a difference in their families, careers, and communities. Arizona FCCLA has over 4,800 members. Career and Technical Student Organizations – CTSOs | Arizona Department of Education (azed.gov)
As of January 5, 2022, a total of $15,651 has been raised for FCCLA’s Ultimate Leadership Fund. A total of $3,684 has been awarded in Chapter Affiliation Support grants helping approximately 342 members to affiliate. Spring 2022 Teen times by FCCLA – Issuu
Hispanic membership remained around 23%, followed by African American (12.57%), Asian (2.72%), Native American (1.81%), Pacific Islander (.23%), and Other (10.77%). FCCLA continues to work towards creating an inclusive environment that welcomes and values all youth. Microsoft Word – 2023 Annual Report – No State (fcclainc.org)
As I spoke with each of these students, they expressed similar but unique perspectives on culinary and how it has influenced their lives in diverse ways, providing them with diverse outlooks. During the interview process, the student I interviewed was Vanessa Rodriguez Lopez, this students’ input provided me her own perspective of this program and what culinary has to offer. As I kept asking questions, I understood that there was more to culinary than initially thought. One thing that caught my particular attention was regarding how culinary can impact someone as told by what she said. “It’s a life skill, that people need to learn as it not only builds skill, but it builds discipline.” Despite each diverse dish that is made discipline is needed in these aspects due to how much detail needs to be put to serve the dish and give the best result possible.
There were three students who I interviewed, they provided me with information which I had not yet known about culinary and how important it is to learn a skill such as this. Vanessa Lopez Rodriguez was firstly interviewed, she had mentioned how learning culinary is a life skill that needs to be learnt no matter the background, whether you know or not about culinary. Semaiya Tucker was the second student I interviewed, she had informed regarding how important it is to keep on going despite any challenges, that one shouldn’t give up as this can be used to express oneself through a dish, it is what makes those dishes how they look or even taste. Lastly, Kelvin Box was interviewed and spoke on regarding how important passion is as well when it comes to the dishes that are being made, that’s about the details and hard work that is put into every dish that is made.
