Starr’s Mill students advance to nationals

Three members of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) chapter at Starr’s Mill High earned gold medals at the Georgia FCCLA State Conference in March and are advancing to the national competition.

Annslee Tokar earned a gold medal in the Teach and Train event, and Christine Rolfes and Dana Newman both earned gold medals in the Entrepreneurship event. They are the only students from Fayette County who will compete at the FCCLA National Conference taking place July 3-7 in San Diego.

Students earning silver medals at the state conference include Alyssa Loesch and Rebecca Harper in the Promote and Publicize event, and Cassidy Haycock, Sarah Karol and Dorothy Daniel in the Illustrated Talk event.

Also, for the first time in the chapter’s history, two students earned top placements in the state on proficiency tests. Letty Castillo scored the second highest in the state on the Nutrition and Food Science proficiency test, and Madison Doucette scored the second highest in the state on the Early Childhood Education proficiency test.

“We have some students take the tests every year, but we have never had anyone place,” said Hope Via, FCCLA co-advisor.

FCCLA is a national student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and address important personal, family, work, and societal issues through family and consumer science education.