More GOLD for FCCLA

Two Minneota teams placed in the top five in the nation at the 2018 FCCLA National Leadership Conference recently in Atlanta, GA. Natalie Bot and Tara Thooft teamed up to win a gold medal while finishing in the top five in their category of Food Innovations.

Katie Konold also earned a gold medal and was a top five finisher in the Entrepreneurship category. Molly Krog placed in the top 10 in the nation for her project in the National Programs in Action Community Service.

A fifth competitor, Isabelle Hennen was a silver medal winner in Recycle and Redesign. “These students continue to amaze me with all they do,” said Minneota Food and Consumer Science (FACS) teacher LeaAnne Bot, who was recently honored by the FCCLA with a Master Advisor Award.

Hannah Brewers attended the National Conference as a judge in the Illustrated Talks category. Teams can be comprised of one or more students. Bot and Thooft will both be juniors this fall.

This was the fourth year that Bot has qualified for the nationals, while Thoft has competed in three national competitions.

This year, Bot and Thooft competed in Food Innovations and their project was called, “Vegan Fettuccini Alfredo”. “The qualification this year for Innovative Foods was to create a vegan entrée for teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18,” explained LeaAnne Bot.

“They could not involve any foods that dealt with animal by-products or testing. After several testing and refining, Natalie and Tara were able to successfully create their Vegan Fettuccini Alfredo.”

Konold, who will be a junior, was competing at the national level for the second time.

She competed in the Entrepreneurship category with her project called “Perfect Pillows”.

“Katie created a business plan that she presented in her portfolio,” said Bot. “With the business plan, she deals with every part of the business and navigates everything from the studio to her yearly profit for her project.”

Krog's project in the Community Service category was entitled “Food Shelf Birthday Bags”.

She conducted a book drive, setting up stations in both Ivanhoe and Minneota and advertised for people to drop off books for the needy children in the area.

“Along with these books and monetary donations, Molly was able to create ‘Birthday Bags’ to donate to the food shelf,” said Bot.

“The bags were filled with cake mix, frosting and some other birthday goodies and given to children whose families may struggle to provide what so many take for granted on their personal yearly holiday.”

This was the second national appearance for Konold and Krog, and the first for Hennen and Brewers. Hennen, a senior this fall, titled her project, “Denim Dog Bone/Chew Toy” in the Recycle and Redesign category.

“Isabelle designed and sewed her doggie chew toys out of recycled jeans for her project,” said Bot.

“She created these adorable denim dog bones.” They are even complete with embellishments such as the word ‘ruff’ on one of the bones.

“These bones were even personalized and sentimental by using her grandfather’s plaid shirt for the back of one of them.”

There were over 4,500 STAR Event competitors in 30 categories at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America National Leadership Conference.

“I personally feel that our girls are so successful because they are all so driven,” said Bot. “And they come into the year and into their projects knowing what the top standard is, and they work for that top standard.”

Over 7,500 in all attended the National Conference. Minnesota FCCLA members stayed at the Omni Hotel, which is connected to the CNN Center in Atlanta.

FCCLA members competed in a wide range of competitive events, attended leadership training sessions, and attended workshops designed to prepare them for the upcoming year as an FCCLA member or an officer.

The Minneota girls toured Atlanta with other FCCLA members.

They were able to see such sites as Six Flags over Georgia, the World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium.

FCCLA is a dynamic and effective student organization that helps young women and men to become leaders and address important personal, family, work, and societal issues through family and consumer science education.