FCCLA members spent Friday, February 5 presenting their projects on how they are choosing to better their community.

“[Our project was on] Interpersonal Communications …like family mealtime communications,” said sophomore Riley. “We sent fliers out to elementary kids about what they can talk to their family about at mealtime.”

Other projects that were presented included one by juniors Caitlin Nelson, Meghan Nortman and sophomore Breanna Amborn. They plan to talk to students about “reducing their carbon-footprint”. Their category was a new one this year.

“What you are judged on depends on your category,” said junior Caitlin Nelson. Students can be judged on the contents of their portfolios, speeches, and displays.

Students give their presentations in front of three judges.

“Some of the judges weren’t very good this year,” said senior Joey Reidel.

While Riley said her judges were nice, Nelson didn’t believe she was as lucky.

“One of them actually asked me “If you are lucky enough to go on to state, how do you plan to improve your project,” said Nelson. “They didn’t seem to know what they were doing.”

While students waited, they weren’t allowed to watch others present, so they killed time relaxing and playing games.

“They had this interactive game thing on the floor. Our favorite game was the one with the frogs…you step on it to squish the frogs. We found out that if you herded them all into the center, they would bounce off each other and explode,” said Nelson.

For Reidel, talking about regionals just didn’t spark a lot of enthusiasm.

“It was really boring this year,” said Reidel.

But first timer Riley seemed to have a different opinion. She got so excited when it was announced that she and her partner Samantha Bahr were going to state, that she danced onto the stage.

“My favorite [memory] was when I danced all the way up there [on stage when we got our award]… I did a little jig, and hollered and hit my friend,” said Riley.

It isn’t over for either Riley or Nelson yet- both will be going to state. But what exactly do they do now?

“I don’t really know [what we have to do now], because this is my first year doing it…We [Bahr and I] haven’t really talked about it since Friday,” said Riley.

“Most people don’t have to do extra things, but I will because I’ll be running for state office,” said Nelson.