ProStart, Family Career and Community Leaders of America and the Family Consumer Sciences class has been busy this school year with many activities and preparing for future events.
Mallory Gregory, FCS teacher at Milford High School, said the ProStart students have participated in many things this year, such as the Nebraska Night of Culinary Stars.
“This is a statewide fundraiser event where ProStart schools come in and make appetizers,” she said. “Chefs and industry professionals from across the state purchase tickets and attend this event. This is one of Nebraska ProStart’s biggest fundraisers to support competitions at the state and national levels for students.”
Along with that, ProStart students have also done pumpkin bread sales, Flash Food Fridays where they sell items to the student body and have worked with the lower level FCS classes to make soup for the high school staff.
“We do things locally but also love to bring out our ‘A’ game to all state-sponsored events,” Gregory said. “The more we can connect students to industry, the better.”
Gregory said the FCS classes have also been busy this semester.
“Our child development class just did an apple jack math cookie lesson with the entire second grade and finished two industry certifications,” she said. “Interior Design is partnering with an FCCLA student to possibly scale out a plan for sidewalk activities at the elementary playground.”
ProStart, FCCLA and FCS students are going to continue the busyness into next semester as Gregory said they have a lot coming up.
“For ProStart, the culinary and management competition starts at the end of January for regionals, state and then the final three to qualify for nationals,” she said. “FCCLA STAR competitions also start at the end of January for districts. In February, two students just got accepted into Omaha Fashion Week so they will be showcased there. We also have a leadership conference and legislative shadow next semester for students to take advantage of, along with many more local community service opportunities for members.”
ProStart and FCCLA are extracurricular activities that students can become involved in to apply the skills and careers learned in FCS courses to the world. Both ProStart and FCCLA are great ways for students to get connected to lead, serve, and prepare for career readiness.
FCCLA is a national career and technical student organization that supports all career field areas of FCS. Students can serve and lead at the local, state and national levels, as well as compete in over 35 competitions. ProStart is solely focused on culinary and restaurant management and is a curriculum and competition series developed through National Restaurant Association.
Even though students in these programs and classes can be busy, Gregory said she feels FCS is important because students are able to build connections with industry professionals and build skills for careers and their futures.
“Whether a student decides to pursue a career related to any of the FCS career fields, the skills and knowledge they take from FCS courses will be used in their adult life,” she said. “I think FCCLA and ProStart are amazing programs for students to become involved with because the sky is truly the limit. Students get to be a part of something greater than themselves and use skills to serve the world and write amazing stories for themselves.”
