October 31st, 2016
Emily Myers and Elias Hicks
Student Life
Smiles welcomed me into Ms. Howard’s room during A tutorial Wednesday morning. This is a meeting of FCCLA, or Family Career and Community Leaders of America, one of Pisgah’s many new and rather unknown clubs. Don’t let the confusing acronym scare you away however, as the club’s president Chesnee Sheehan says, it is simply “a club utilising skills learned in foods and apparel to benefit the community”. There’s no requirements to join FCCLA, simply an interest in creating crafts and foods in order to help others. I can personally attest to Chesnee’s (and the rest of the club’s) patience with newcomers, because she has spent entirely too much time kindly and gently teaching me how to knit, which is a pretty difficult task to undertake. If they can teach me to knit, they can teach anyone to knit.
On Sunday, October 23rd , FCCLA hosted a spaghetti lunch at Morning Star Baptist Church to raise funds. According to Chesnee this was a “massive success” that will fuel the rest of their projects throughout the year, saying: “with that money we can so so much more”. Desserts were available to purchase at the luncheon and the next time FCCLA has baked goods for sale, I suggest you book it to the event because they are delicious. Much more important than the delicious cheesecakes, cream horns, or donuts, however, is the sense of pride and fellowship that members of FCCLA have. I asked some members to tell me what their favorite part of being in FCCLA is. “Creating things for a good cause”, answered Jennie Ingle. Similarly Sidney Blasy said that she enjoys “making things with my hands,” and Alondra Carmona said “learning new useful skills from people who are interested in the same things as I am.” Skylar Owenby expressed that the “friendly atmosphere” is the best part of FCCLA.
Exciting things are coming up in FCCLA’s future. Currently they are working on the Linus Project, in which they are hand crafting small fleece blankets for children in need. Also FCCLA members are preparing for this year’s screening of the Polar Express by the Sports and Entertainment Marketing class on December 3rd. FCCLA will have a booth with crafts such as scarves and hand-warmers and home cooked refreshments. Before leaving, I had to ask Chesnee what she thinks the most important part of FCCLA is. She told me “taking our ideas from on paper to out in the world, and actually making a difference.”
To learn more about FCCLA you can check out their twitter @pisgah_fccla or attend one of their weekly meetings Wednesday Tutorial A
To learn more about the Linus Project visit projectlinus.org
