Who Cares About National Programs?
Well for starters, you should! FCCLA's National Programs serve as the backbone for our organization and really showcase the values and purposes that FCCLA promotes. As a member of FCCLA, we have an extraordinary opportunity to take action and complete a project for one of the twelve National Programs that FCCLA has to offer. You'll be surprised at how quickly you'll begin to reap in the benefits that they can provide. By completing a National Program, you will not only learn a multitude of lessons regarding time management, planning, and organization, but you will also gain a strong feeling of personal satisfaction knowing that your project helped somebody somewhere. Your chapter can also gain national recognition at the 2008 National Leadership Meeting in Orlando as well! Below are some tips to help guide you along the way to National Program success.
Before you begin work on your project, you and your chapter need to identify a concern in your community that you are passionate about. If you don't care about what you're doing, what's the point in doing it? Once you have a concern identified, it's time to find a program to go with it. Check out the Michigan FCCLA website at www.mifccla.org under the Student menu for information about each of the National Programs. There's no doubt that you'll be able to find a program to fit your needs.
Once you have a concern identified and a National Program to complete, you need to set some goals. Make sure your goals are SMART goals, which means that they are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. By setting SMART goals, the task of completing any project will be a lot easier. After setting goals, form a plan and figure out all of the nitty-gritty details necessary to successfully implement your project. Next, act out on your goals and complete your project. Once you have successfully completed your goals, it's time to follow-up and evaluate your entire process. It's also time to register for recognition! Award applications for all National Programs are due March 1, 2008, so make sure to have your projects completed by then. There will be plenty more reminders for you to turn in the applications, but write down the date now so you don't forget! Applications are always available online at www.fcclainc.org.
So when your chapter completes a National Program and you've applied for recognition, what happens next? Michigan FCCLA will recognize all participating chapters at the State Leadership Meeting in April, and best of all, National FCCLA offers recognition at the 2008 National Leadership Meeting in Orlando! Chapters with winning projects for each program can even win cash rewards, and recognition in Teen Times magazine, Focus on FCCLA, and on the Michigan FCCLA website! It would be AMAZING if a chapter from Michigan won this sort of national recognition, or simply even completed a National Program this year!
My goal for every chapter in Michigan is to complete a project for a National Program this year. This goal will be extremely easy to achieve if you also participate in our State Community Service Project: "Rock Your Community!" because many of the projects are very similar. So what are you waiting for? Head on over to www.mifccla.org and click on the "Programs" link under the "Student" menu! Get familiar with FCCLA's National Programs and form a plan to carry one out this year! I'll be sure to do my part and keep you updated on all National Program news this year and give you some tips and project ideas along the way. Be sure to email me at aschantz@mifccla.org if you're having any trouble, or you'd like to learn more about National Programs. Remember to be positive, open to learning, honest, helpful, and in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." This is going to be a great year for Michigan FCCLA and I can't wait to get started!