For the first-time since Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) was founded in 1945, members competed in Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Events on the national level virtually. Nearly 3,000 FCCLA members from across the country participated in STAR Events this past June. All STAR Event competitors were recognized for their accomplishments at FCCLA’s Virtual National Leadership Conference, July 7-9, 2020.

STAR Events are Competitive Events in which members are recognized for their proficiency and achievement in chapter and individual projects, leadership skills, and career preparation. STAR Events allow students to compete individually or as a team. There are more than 30 STAR Events students can choose to compete in, all which recognize participants who demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities to actively identify an issue concerning families, careers, or communities, research the topic, and develop and implement a project to advocate for positive change.

In order to advance to the national level in a STAR Event, members first compete at the region/district and state level. For Salisbury FCCLA members that qualified for state level competition it was disappointing to not be able to compete. The state chose teams to compete at the national level based on the scores from regional competition in January. The following members qualified for state competition that was supposed to be held in March: Elizabeth Bales, Alyssa Smedley, Karen See, Kendall Lilly, Anna Swallow, and Carissa Knight. Elizabeth Bales and Carissa Knight were chosen to represent the state of Missouri at national competition. Instead of a face-to-face they were challenged with videoing and submitting their projects to be evaluated. Elizabeth Bales received a gold medal in the Food Innovations category and Carissa Knight received a silver medal in the Sports Nutrition Category.

Several FCCLA members enjoyed a watch party on July 9 to learn the results of the competition. Salisbury FCCLA is proud of our two national competitors after such an unprecedented year.