Members of Warsaw’s FCCLA celebrated an IncREDible week Feb. 13-17 to spread the word about Family, Career, Community Leaders of America. The group works to promote personal growth through the community. 

    Many of the WHS members say they joined to learn leadership, to help the community and to have fun. 

  FCCLA is based on student interest and involvement.  This year, they have been focused more on service. They collected $500.00 for the Benton County Food Bank with Penny Wars and Pie the Superintendent. They collected over $50 to support the Benton County Cancer Fund, in honor of Tabitha Burke and those still fighting cancer from the school system. They sent Valentine cards to the local nursing home. They presented at South School classrooms on topics ranging from learning about money, to kindness counts, to healthy choices.

   “I liked that everything I teach can make a difference in the daily life of a student. It is something that they will use in ‘real life’. I also like that it ties together what they are learning in their other courses in a daily life applied format,” Suzie Dudenhoeffer said.

   Some of the members in FCCLA include Vincenza Parsi, Damian Fogle, Hazel Thompson, Carley Price, Maya Jolliff, Amy Terry, Leah Miller, Paige Collier, Ariel Harrington- Plaster, Charles Nichols, Brooklyn Jackman, Bella Raney, and many more. Suzie Dudenhoeffer has been an FCCLA advisor for 32 years, and Family Consumer Sciences teacher for also 32 years. Students take trips and go to meetings. 

   “I am the advisor,  I help students find the resources they need to plan and carry out projects here at our school building, in the elementaries and in our community,’’ Dudenhoeffer said. 

   “We take trips to different meetings with the state representatives of FCCLA, we learn how to become better leaders at these meetings,” sophomore Brooklyn Jackman said.

   The FCCLA group does fundraisers and students learn to support others and be great leaders, as well as go on trips for conferences. Students went to Warrensburg in October for an FCCLA meeting for everyone around the state. 

   “That is mostly what we do, we help raise money for different programs in the form of penny wars, hat day, or other fun activities for the school,” Jackman said.

   Students have learned what it is like to give people a chance and to help them.

   “I learned that we have a wonderful community with great people in it,” freshman Vincenz Parsi said. 

   There are many great things about joining FCCLA because students get to learn to be a leader, helper, and they get to learn about the community. 

   “I learned that you have to give people a chance and it feels great to help people,” Parsi said.