Saline FCCLA Members Dream and Achieve at the 2025 FCCLA State Leadership Conference

Family Career and Community Leaders of America, Saline Area Schools

Saline was honored at the recent Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America’s (FCCLA) State Leadership Conference.

Saline Area Schools announced the good news on March 7, highlighting the awards received at the conference.

Representing the Saline Chapter, 19 students and their FCCLA Advisor Lauren Williams attended this year’s three-day conference that was held in Southfield, on February 24-26 at the Westin Southfield Hotel. The Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) are a national Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for students in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) education in public and private schools.

Saline was recognized with the following awards and distinctions at the Opening Session held on Feb. 24:

Outstanding Chapter Award
National Program in Action Award
Go for the Red Award

At the awards ceremony on Wednesday, Feb. 26, students from Saline were also recognized for their participation in the competitive events program.

During the three-day conference, students attended general sessions, participated in workshops on relevant youth issues, networked with organizations and postsecondary institutions, competed in various competitive events and more.

The following Saline students earned Bronze: Jackson Cravens, Vivan Fergus, Luke Reger, Allison Szura, and Zhuo Si Yuen.

Next, there were eight students earning silver: Lily Chai, Abigail Cohoon, Grace Grady, Morgan Heusel, Samantha James, Michelle Jiang, Solane McClellan, Liljana Schilling, and Morgan Walker.

Lastly, Saline had four gold medalists: Natalie Coughlin, Amelia Gartland, Molly Nachtrieb, and Ryan Notar.

FCCLA members presented projects prepared in their Career and Technical Education programs across over 25 event categories. FCCLA members have been working on these events throughout the year and presented their work to a panel of judges from industry partners and the community to receive professional and technical feedback.

For Saline, students competed in the following projects; Chapter in Review Portfolio, Teach or Train, Interior Design, Creative Teaching, and National Programs of Action.

Another honor came at the conference’s recognition dinner, Williams, as advisor for Saline’s FCCLA chapter, earned an award for, “The Spirit of Advising” which recognizes advisers who have gone above and beyond in serving the state association. The Michigan State Adviser selects this recipient each year, and submits the recipient for National FCCLA recognition.

The conference featured two general sessions, including a keynote address by 2024-2025 Michigan Teacher of the Year, Kelley Cusmano. Members in attendance had the opportunity to ask Cusmano questions about her career journey and goals following the presentation.

Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America is described as “a dynamic student-led organization serving over 245,000 middle and high school students across the nation and is truly The Ultimate Leadership Experience.”

The Michigan state association of FCCLA is hosted at Eastern Michigan University Game Above College of Engineering and Technology and supported by a grant from the Michigan Department of Education – Office of Career and Technical Education.

Of the 19 Saline students who attended the state conference, 10 students qualified for the National Conference. These members were among the top scorers in their event and have earned the opportunity to present their work in Orlando, Florida this summer from July 5-9, 2025.

Photo 1:Saline FCCLA Students participating in the 2025 FCCLA State Leadership Conference. Photo courtesy of Saline Area Schools

Photo 2:Saline FCCLA Advisor Lauren Williams and SHS Senior Katie Reading, First Vice President of the Michigan FCCLA State Executive Council. Photo courtesy of Saline Area Schools