Twenty-six Luverne Middle-High School students were among nearly 1,000 youth who attended the Minnesota Family, Career and Community Leaders (FCCLA) state conference March 28-30 in Bloomington.
The leadership conference featured competitions, awards, leadership training sessions and motivational speakers.
Theme of the conference was “Land of 10,000 Dreams.”
The competitive portion of the conference featured students participating in one or more of the 50 different STAR events (Students Taking Action with Recognition).
Qualifying students earned trips to compete at the national FCCLA conference June 30-July 4 in Anaheim, California.
Results by category, Luverne participant(s) and medal achievement include:
•Illustrated talk: Cedar Viessman and Phoebe DeBates, gold; Nicole Hoogland, gold; Kaylie Ossefoort and Courtney Wendland, gold; Hannah Baker and Rylee Anderson, gold; Elizabeth Kelm, gold; Riley Severtson and Carissa Cunningham, gold; Faith Mounce and Morgan Bonnett, gold.
•Interior design: Jacinda Hustoft and Zoe DeBates, gold, national trip earners.
•Life planning event: Lindsey Roemeling and Carissa Cunningham, gold, alternates to the national convention.
•Focus on Children: Cedar Viessman and Ella Lanoue, silver; Ross Bergman and Parker Carbonneau, silver, alternatives to the national convention.
•Chapter service: Mela Jarchow and Kacie Kracht, bronze.
•Show me: Phoebe DeBates and Ryenn Stegenga, bronze.
•National programs in action: Sage VerSteeg, gold; Anita Cole-Kraty, Kacie Kracht and Kynzie Hamann, silver.
•Advocacy: Mikayla Wiederhoeft, Adriana Gonzalez and Courtney Wendland, gold, national trip earners.
Wiederhoeft, Gonzalez and Wendland created “DeFEET Poverty,” where they sought to increase awareness of poverty issues locally through various special events.
A clerical error almost kept the three students from presenting their advocacy project at the national convention.
Adviser Carmen Thompson said the Luverne students were announced as the first advancers and proceeded to the registration desk to sign up for the national convention.
Organizers said “DeFEET Poverty” project finished fourth and did not qualify for advancement.
“This upset everyone,” said adviser Carmen Thompson. “After some checking, they found out they were second and got their national trip.”
Joining Wiederhoeft, Gonzalez and Wendland to California this summer are Jacinda Hustoft and Zoe DeBates.
Hustoft and DeBates were also two of 18 FCCLA members across the nation who qualified for the national convention with their “Digital Stories for Change.”
The students developed a video for this year’s change topic of “Being Responsible Online.”
The state convention marked the end of Lindsey Roemeling’s term as state vice president of service. Carissa Cunningham, Adriana Gonzalez and Courtney Wendland also completed their terms as southwest area officers.
Elected to serve as southwest area officers next year are Ella Lanoue as secretary and Rylee Anderson as peer educator.