After months of preparation and practice, several students at Riverside Brookfield High School took their talents to the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) state competition, where they competed in events ranging from cake decorating to charcuterie board preparation and even fashion construction.
FCCLA has been an extracurricular at RB for many years and is an outlet for students who are interested in creating things, whether that be food or clothes, to show off their talents. They participate in multiple competitions throughout the year, but for FCCLA co-advisor Grant Lewis, getting students ready for state is something that starts as soon as possible.
“They train starting pretty much at the beginning of the school year,” Lewis said. “There’s two different types of competition, so depending on what they’re competing in we’re either practicing their piping skills for cakes, their knife skills for charcuterie boards, or entire menus for their event.”
Before students make their way off to state, they must compete in regionals first. At regionals, they are judged on a detailed scoring system that further determines if they get to move on to state.
“They have very specific rubrics on different categories such as knife skills, knife safety, safety and sanitation, and presentation,” Lewis said. “They have about two to three judges per student, and they get scored on a rubric, and then if they get a high enough score they’re able to advance to state.”
Due to several students competing in various events, the preparation process is different for everyone. Some students may come in having existing experience and knowledge from previous food classes, while others may be learning everything from scratch.
“We try to meet the students at where they’re at and what they already know,” Lewis said.
One of the students who competed in state was senior Alexandra Salas. She was a part of charcuterie board preparation and was able to express her creativity through FCCLA.
“It is something that interested me, and I’ve always been into art and culinary, so I wanted to mix the two and experiment,” Salas said.
Salas gives some insight on what competitors creating charcuterie boards are judged on at state.
“We are judged on our knife cuts,” Salas said. “We are given a specific set of knife cuts to memorize, and we have to display them with accuracy and consistency. On the charcuterie board, we are judged on how full it is, how creative it is, and we have to make sure it’s not over the budget.”
Since the state competition takes place during the month of April, Salas wanted to use the spring season as the inspiration for her board.
“My theme and concept was flowers and blooming, especially since it’s spring and everything,” Salas said. “The competition took place in the spring. I wanted to do it with flowers in the middle and then dull themes around.”
Overall, many students see FCCLA as an enjoyable and meaningful way to spend their time.
“It’s just really fun, and I get to do it with my friends,” Salas said. “I get to collaborate with other people and talk to Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Honan. It’s just something nice to invest your time in.”
Another student who competed in FCCLA state this year was senior Kaiser Zabek. He was a part of the cake decorating events and was introduced to FCCLA through his baking and pastry class.
“I was taking baking and pastry this year, and one of the teachers there was telling me about FCCLA, and I really like cooking, so I thought it would be cool,” Zabek said.
To get ready, Zabek spent a lot of time working on the details that judges notice most.
“[I worked on] mostly piping techniques, so even lines, even spacing, all that stuff,” Zabek said.
Even with all the practice, the competition itself is still very stressful. When asked about the most challenging part of state, Zabek emphasizes the concentration needed when working under pressure.
“[The most challenging part is] probably trying to stay focused during the actual competition itself,” Zabek said. “Being able to look around and see what everybody else is doing and feeling inadequate [can be difficult].”
FCCLA takes a lot of hard work and practice, but it also takes passion and creativity. Each year, students are given a theme to work with, and Zabek’s goal was to create something different.
“This year [the theme] was games, and I tried to find something unique, so I did Minesweeper,” Zabek said.
Students are given the chance through FCCLA to explore their interests and express themselves creatively in a hands-on environment. The experience is just as much about learning and creativity as it is about competing.
“[FCCLA is] valuable because it gives students a creative outlet to really express themselves through different mediums that they may not get to in school,” Lewis said. “This gives them a place to kind of explore different career options and things they may be interested in, and it really gives them that one-on-one support in those areas in a way classes just can’t.”
