Many clubs make up the student body’s extracurricular experience, yet several of them go unnoticed. Clubs, such as Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), are succeeding under the radar. 

FCCLA is a group in which students come together at their school to tend to community service and study family and consumer sciences. 

“It [FCCLA] is a community-based club, and we do a lot of community service work and also have the opportunity to compete in events that we can choose,” senior Anna Kuga said. 

“It’s basically like DECA but think more like homeech type classes,” senior Nora Schell adds. 

Being a member of FCCLA, students are granted the choice to compete in conferences that can take them from state to nationals. This past summer, some members of FCCLA were awarded silver medals in their Star events at nationals in San Diego. 

Schell and Kuga earned silver on a presentation regarding hospitality. They posted a hypothetical plan for a resort to host Ukrainian refugees. While junior Aliyah Hamim received silver on her Teach-and-Evaluate oral presentation. She put together an entire lesson plan and taught it to elementary schoolers under the watch of judges. 

Though the girls had to carry the weight of competing, they still took the opportunity to seize the day. 

“We were able to stroll around downtown San Diego. We got to go visit some fun restaurants and cool tourists spots and then the San Diego Zoo,” Kuga said. “We really were having a lot more fun. We were doing a lot more things on our own than with the conference.”

Though there’s weight to carry, FCCLA isn’t a heavy endeavor like other clubs can be.

“I would say that it’s not a club that you absolutely have to spend all your time on. I’m a student-athlete, I’m in other clubs and I’m still able to be in the club and compete,” Kuga said.

None of this would be possible without the guidance of their teacher, Helen Owens.

“I joined it because I took a class with Ms. Owens, and she told me to join and I had a lot of fun,” Hamim said. 

“I feel that I’ve gained so much from Ms. Owens and just being in the club, the people, just the people in the club have given me so much,” Kuga finishes. 

As the seniors roll out, Owens is looking for new members. Giving FCCLA a shot might be worth your while. 

“I’m so grateful to be able to go and represent Wake Forest High School and represent North Carolina. I think it’s an opportunity that most people should get. It was a great travel experience and great life experience. I’m very sure it’s something I’ll carry with me.” Schell said.