Jefferson County Schools (JCS) students shined during the West Virginia FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) Conference this year. FCCLA Advisor Andrea Faith said students from Shepherdstown Middle School and Wildwood Middle School competed in STAR Events (Students Taking Action with Recognition) to share the profound contributions their FCCLA Chapters, and members, have had in their community. JCS students placed either first or second in all categories entered. Wildwood students Derrick Carper, Aby Cole, and Kayla Duval attended the conference last month, along with Shepherdstown students Amanda Baeza, Neleh Dube, Holly Helwig, Eadyn Kruger, Lily Nicodemus, and Avery Ruhland.
Carper took first place in the Career Investigation competition and earned the only gold medal awarded this year in that competition. He also helped lead the conference after being elected as the state's First Vice President for the 2023-2024 school year. Cole and Duval placed first in the Focus on Children event, and earned a silver medal.
Baeza and Nicodemus placed first and earned a silver medal for their chapter service project, "We're not getting younger. Today, let's fight hunger." Dube's "Promote and Publicize FCCLA" earned a silver medal and took first. Helwig, Kruger, and Ruhland were second and took home a silver medal for their project, "Focus on Children; Kids Take Part in the Arts."
All first place delegates earned the WVDE-CTE transportation scholarship (Airline Ticket), and qualified to travel to Denver and present their research projects at the National FCCLA Leadership Conference in July.