West Monona Community School District

On March 16th, West Monona Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) members traveled to Cedar Rapids for the annual State Leadership Conference (SLC). They learned about future occupations and developed leadership skills along with almost 600 students from across the state. State officers, Jalyn Struble and Emma Jensen,  prepared and presented a breakout session for new members on Sunday afternoon and had an impressive turn out with around 70 students in attendance. Later that night, State President Jalyn Struble conducted the opening ceremony and declared the conference in session. Vice President of Parliamentary Law, Emma Jensen, sang the national anthem and helped speak to the delegation of 500+ students. On Monday, state officer candidate Chloe Broer, competed in the STAR event category “Sports Nutrition” with her project titled “Eat to Compete”. She received a gold medal and was one of two students selected to compete at the National Level in Seattle, Washington this June. State officer Emma Jensen competed in the “Leadership” STAR Event category and received a silver medal. Members Bridgett Hupke and Ryleigh Ruth competed in the Iowa Event “Cake Decorating” and received a bronze with their cake decorated to support pediatric cancer research. Jalyn Struble and Emma Jensen led another breakout session on Monday afternoon where members constructed tie blankets to be donated to the Children’s Cancer Connection. That evening, Struble and Jensen ran the Business Session and Janet Mann, Peer Education Coordinator, presented members with their awards. Jalyn Struble received an Award of Excellence in her Community Service Peer Education Project. She was awarded a scholarship of $100 for her project which raised money for local cancer patients and made blankets for the Children’s Cancer Connection. Emma Jensen received an Award of Excellence for her Families Acting for Community Traffic Safety (FACTS) with her project which informed the community about safe driving and urged students to practice this. West Monona FCCLA advisor, Janet Mann, received the advisor award of Distinguished Service for her continual service to  Peer Education at the state and national level. The West Monona Chapter also received the distinguished award of being named a Gold Honor Chapter.  This award is given to chapters who have members involved at all levels.  At the end of the session, Chloe Broer successfully supported her officer campaign by giving an insightful and powerful, 2-minute speech and answering a situational question on stage in front of the general members and voting delegates. On Tuesday morning, Emma Jensen and Jalyn Struble led the final general session to close the conference. During this session, Struble and Jensen inducted the new state officers, including Chloe Broer who was elected the state Vice President of Competitive Events! Jalyn Struble gave the presidential farewell and swore in the new officers. Over the four eventful days of hard work, Janet Mann and the West Monona students represented their school and chapter in groundbreaking ways.