One week each month, the Jessamine Journal will partner up with the Jessamine Career and Technology Center to inform readers about a different program offered at the school.

This month’s spotlight is on the JCTC Family and Consumer Sciences program. According to teacher and FCCLA Chapter Adviser Jennifer Hulette, family and consumer sciences education empowers individuals and families to manage the challenge of living and working in a diverse global society. The field deals with relationships between individuals, families, and communities, and the environment in which they live.

One aspect of the program is the county’s FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) chapter. FCCLA is a national career and technical student organization that provides personal growth, leadership development and career preparation opportunities for students within family and consumer sciences education.

The family and consumer sciences program at JCTC offers students many opportunities to engage in and work with the community around them. According to Hulette, some examples of this work with the community includes Crumps Kids Catering and ProStart, JCTC Embroidery and Vinyl Creations and JCTC Playschool.

In addition to the program and the FCCLA chapter’s work with the community, there are also several annual events that students can participate in as well. The events for this school year will include National Family and Consumer Sciences Day on Dec. 3, 2017 STAR Events on Jan. 27, FCCLA Week on Feb. 11 to 17, the 2018 KY ProStart Invitational on March 9 to 10 and the FCCLA State Meeting on March 26 to 28.

Hulette notes that January’s STAR (Students Taking Action for Recognition) Events will be held at East Jessamine High School, and schools from across our region will be attending. She said that the program is in need of judges for that day, and anyone interested may contact elizabeth.crump@jessamine.kyschools.us.

In addition, the Family Consumer Sciences culinary students, collectively known as Crumps Kids Catering, will serve a Thanksgiving meal for the Jessamine County homeless coalition on Thanksgiving.

This year has been a successful one for the family and consumer sciences program, as well as the FCCLA chapter.

“This year, we are proud to say we have an FCCLA state officer,” Hulette said. “Alexa Meza is our state Vice President of Public Relations. We also have two regional officers — Katie Bruner is our regional VP of STAR Events and Hannah Kimmel is our regional VP of Membership.

“Patten Hulette was our first Jessamine County FCCLA national officer candidate this year. She was recognized at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference this summer for being in the top 20 of the nation. Another celebration is that Christina Francis received her CDA (Child Development Associate) credential. This is equivalent to 9 to 12 college credit hours.”

On Sunday, Dec 3, Hulette wishes to invite everyone to participate in the fourth national Family and Consumer Sciences Day, which is sponsored by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. This day is set aside to ask families to “Dine In,” or have a family meal together.

Since 2014, more than 300,000 people have committed to dining in on Family and Consumer Sciences Day. AAFCS honors Founder Ellen Swallow Richards by celebrating FCS Day on her birthday.

Everyone is invited to sign up to commit to dining together as a family at the following link: www.aafcs.org/fcsday/commit-to-dining-in/fcs-day-sign-up.