September 2015
Red Leader
Contributed by: Jaci Edis, State Vice President of Membership
Featuring:
• Will You Be My
BFF?
• The Nebraska
FCCLA Blog
• Program
Highlight:
STOP The
Violence
• Red Leader
Submission
Information
Will You Be My BFF?
Hey, Nebraska FCCLA! The
State Officer Team hopes
you all have had a great start
to this school year, and are
planning some great
programs, growth, and
involvement for FCCLA this
year! And what better way to
kick off your FCCLA year
than with recruiting new
members?
This summer, the State
Officer Team came up with a
great new program that we
are so excited to share with
you all. Introducing, BFF
which doesn’t actually stand
for “best friends forever” as
most of you are probably
thinking. This is our new
membership campaign that
stands for Best FCCLA
Friend!
I want each of you to think
about why you joined
FCCLA. Most likely, the
majority of you joined
because someone else
encouraged you. So why not
encourage someone else?
Through the BFF program,
we want YOU to recruit one
new member and encourage
them to join FCCLA. If you
recruit a new member, be
sure to go online to our
website and sign up for the
BFF program to be
recognized at the State
Leadership Conference! In
addition to being recognized,
one lucky FCCLA member
will win an FCCLA prize
pack! So start thinking about
who your BFF is going to be!
A great strategy to utilize
throughout the FCCLA year
is the Three R’s of
Membership! Always
remember to recruit, retain,
and recognize your members
to make your chapter the
best it can be!
Recruit
At the beginning of the year,
the most important thing that
you can do is to recruit,
recruit, recruit! The ways to
recruit are endless, but here
are a few ideas that you can
use in your chapter.
•
Host an FCCLA social
for your chapter and
invite all the kids in your
school to join and learn
about what FCCLA is all
about.
•
Take the lead in
ensuring each current
member has a BFF, or
someone that they will
work to welcome and
mentor into the
organization.
•
Visit Family and
Consumer Sciences
classes to talk about
what FCCLA is. You
can utilize the new
“What is FCCLA?”
PowerPoint to help.
•
Have a fun night to get
to know new students.
Play some FCCLA
knowledge games to get
people engaged and
talking about what we do
in the organization.
•
Hang up signs around
your school promoting
FCCLA and all that we
do! This would also be a
great way to use the
Join for…. Stay for….
Signs that were sent out
to the advisers. These
are a great way to
individualize posters that
will reach the students in
your school.
Retain
After you get out there and
recruit new members to join
FCCLA, be sure to retain
them with the second R! Get
your members engaged
throughout the year by
having them join different
committees in your chapter
to get involved in different
fundraisers, community
service projects, school
improvement, or other
chapter activities throughout
the year! Give your members
the option to apply for
individual and chapter
awards, or participate in
STAR or National Programs!
Recognize
And finally, ALWAYS show
your members that you
appreciate them with the
third R, Recognize! After a
big fundraiser, community
service project, or after any
competitive events
competition, write each of
your members a little note
congratulating them or
thanking them.
Membership is important to
having a successful chapter,
so let’s get to recruiting and
make this year a great one!
To apply for the BFF Award,
visit the “Programs” section
of the Nebraska FCCLA
website.
Red Leader
Page 2 of 3
The Nebraska FCCLA Blog
Yes, we have a blog and we can’t believe you
haven’t seen it yet! The Nebraska FCCLA blog is
located on the Nebraska FCCLA homepage. You
can see the most recent posts on the bottom of the
homepage or you can click on “News” for all of the
posts.
Blogs are posted at least once every two weeks by
members of the State Officer Team and the State
Adviser. This is a great way to see the latest
updates and get great tips from our State Officer
Team.
Have a suggestion for the blog? Send your
thoughts to nebraskafccla@gmail.com
Check out our two most recent posts to the Nebraska FCCLA Blog!
Program Highlight: STOP the Violence
STOP the Violence is a peer education program
that focuses on recognizing, reporting, and
reducing youth violence.
One thing to keep in mind is that whether violence
takes place in or out of school, it impacts all parts
of youth lives. A violent and abusive peer
relationship affects self-esteem. A lack of safe
“Violence in today's schools is too often after school options for students impacts learning
opportunities.
a headline in the national news.
Whether it is fighting, making threats,
or bullying, violence has forced school
officials to take drastic steps to address
this concern. Millions of dollars have
been spent on metal detectors, hidden
cameras in the classrooms and
hallways, and security guards. Dollars
spent on security measures such as
these are not spent on additional
teachers, salaries, advanced
technology, and facilities. But what can
the students themselves do to STOP
the Violence?”
-National FCCLA
FCCLA is in a prime position to assist with
meeting this need. Take some time to assess the
needs of your members and community to see if a
STOP the Violence project would be of benefit.
In addition to the experiences and reward for
helping in your reduce violence, there are also
many opportunities for chapter recognition. The
National Association offers almost $3,000 in
awards through the National Program Award
Program. In Nebraska we also offer special
recognition at the State Leadership Conference.
Check out all of the recognition
opportunities under the “Programs”
tab of the National FCCLA website.
Program Ideas
•
Plan a seminar on dating
violence to educate
students about healthy
relationships
•
Host Red Ribbon Week
activities in October to bring
awareness to the
repercussions of drug and
alcohol use and violence
•
Raise awareness of conflict
resolution skills and provide
students with the
opportunity to practice their
skills before they need them
Page 3 of 3
Email your Chapter
Spotlights to
nebraskafccla@gmail.com.
All entries submitted in a
month will be featured in the
following month’s Red
Leader.
Nebraska Family,
Career, and Community
Leaders of America
Allison Kreifels
State Adviser
allison.kreifels@nebraska.gov
301 Centennial Mall South
PO Box 94987
Lincoln, NE 68509
402-471-4814
nebraskafccla@gmail.com
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
WWW.NEBRASKAFCCLA.ORG
Red Leader
Want to be in the Red Leader?
Red Leader is our monthly
publication for the members,
alumni, and supporters of
Nebraska FCCLA. Each
month has a different
contributor and the articles
will focus on current
happenings, updates, and of
course, Chapter Spotlights
less and include a picture of
the event, if possible.
from you!
Chapters are encouraged to
share what’s going on in their
chapters. Spotlights can be
sent to
nebraskafccla@gmail.com
and should include a
description of 100 words or
We look forward to any
feedback you have about this
publication and we hope to
hear about all the great
things Nebraska FCCLA is
doing!
About Our Organization…
Nebraska Family, Career and
Community Leaders of
America (FCCLA) is a
dynamic student organization
which holds the family as its
central focus. We promote
leadership and service in the
family, career, school, and
community and help
members improve
themselves and the world in
which they live.
FCCLA is a national Career
and Technical Student
Organization that provides
personal growth, leadership
development, and career
preparation opportunities for
students in Family and
Consumer Sciences
education.