Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) recently participated in a regional competition to showcase their creativity in food design and arrangement. Some earned recognition and a spot in further competitions.

“My favorite part of FCCLA is seeing my students gain confidence in their skills and step up at sectionals and qualify for state this year,” club advisor, Sydney Schneider said, “They put in so much hard work, and watching their excitement when they saw that they qualified was priceless. It was one of those ‘this is why I do this’ moments. Seeing them so proud of themselves was everything.”

FCCLA competed against other schools’ FCCLA clubs in Tinley Park, and depending on what division each member competed in, they could prepare a charcuterie board, frosted cake, cookie cake, or a salad, Caroline Leff ‘28 said. Many of the students earned Silver Recognition for their food, and three students, Isabelle Luna ‘27, Adeline Jandak ‘28, and Cristena Gondos ‘26 earned Gold Recognition and qualified for State. Additionally, Leff won best in category for her frosted cake.

“I was nervous at first, but once I started piping I felt more confident and it was really fun and cool to compete against other people while doing something that I love,” Leff said.

The students advancing to State will compete in Springfield on April 9-11 to make or design the same food and arrangements that they made at the regional competition, Jandak said. They will continue to prepare for state competition with the second opportunity to showcase their culinary skills.

“When I heard I qualified for State, I was definitely shocked since I thought that my board wasn’t very good, but I was also happy since I get to do something I love to do again,” Jandak said.

The members of FCCLA meet once every other week and have put in a lot of work, leading them to grow in their leadership, confidence, and culinary skills, Schneider said. FCCLA gives students an opportunity to tremendously improve these skills that will help them in future careers. Coming to these meetings helped the members develop these skills and to prepare for the competition.

“Seeing them step up at competitions was such a proud moment. They’ve embraced the challenge, and their confidence in the kitchen truly shines,” Schneider said.