MHS students best in Texas - Special to The Meteor

Madisonville High School's Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Senior Parliamen-tary Procedure Team and Senior Job Interview will be traveling to Aneheim, Calif., July 7-13 to represent Madisonville and Texas with their first place events in Dallas April 12-14.

Members of the Senior Parliamentary Procedure Team are Christina Taylor, Cory Jarrett, Joel Blair, Aaron Dean, Brandon Pope, Blayne Scott, Colton Morgan and Daniel Sanders.

Parliamentary Procedure is a team event in which team members demonstrate a working knowledge of parliamentary law and the ability to conduct a FCCLA business meeting. When asked about their first place win, Aaron Dean said, “I knew we did a good job with our meeting, so I had a good feeling about the outcome.” Joel Blair added, “We had a few bobbles, but overall we did a good job and we aced all the parliamentary questions they asked us.”

Cory Jarrett said, “We knew our stuff, but the red suspenders the guys wore helped the judges remember us to the end of competition since we competed so early in the morning.”

The winner in the Senior Job Interview Event was Reygan Farris.

Job Interview is an individual event in which participants develop a portfolio containing job information and examples, fill out a job application and express their communication skills and job knowledge through an interview.

Reygan applied for a job as a hippo therapy aide and competed against 30 individuals applying for such jobs as child care aides, teacher aides and various retail sales positions.

Farris was the last competitor to be interviewed and worried about her placement in the lineup. “I didn't know if they had given me a good interview in the time allotted, but it all worked out and I am so excited about representing the state of Texas at National Competition,” said Farrris.

Two years ago, Reygan found herself in this same position as she represented Madisonville FFA and Texas in their Job Interview competition.

The Madisonville Chapters, Clinton, Fielder, Isaacs and Richter Chapters, of FCCLA attended the state conference and were among approximately 3,500 delegates attending the three-day gathering.

The youth developed theme, “Tune In To FCCLA,” was carried out through competitive events, workshops and general sessions. Members learned to strategically plan ways to become actively involved in issues facing today's youth, including decision making, goal setting and career preparation.

Motivational speakers Rhett Laubach and Dr. Rick Rigsby gave energized speeches on understanding how to positively impact people, and especially empowering young people to make an impact on their world.

In addition, Bryan Fiese, professional speaker and certified hypnotist, entertained and challenged FCCLA members to be the best they can be. As part of his presentation, he picked 20 volunteers from the audience to be hypnotized. Those chosen from Madisonville were Lindsey Farris, Brandon Hickman and Jonathan Richter.

Also held were general sessions, where students were recognized for their accomplishments, honorary memberships were presented and scholarships were awarded. Richter was one of ten recipients of the Special Regional Scholarship sponsored by Blue Bell Creameries.

Richter, National FCCLA Vice-President of Parliamentary Law, and Derek Ladd, State Vice-President of Recreation from Madisonville, were major participants in the general sessions with Richter bringing greeting from the National Executive Council and a patriotic presentation to members. Ladd added humor by conducting commercial breaks for members.

Representing MHS were 31 students and their advisors, Linda Clinton, Martha Fielder, Melissa Isaacs, Barbara Richter, along with parents Sandy Ward, Fred Schmidt and Kenneth and Karl Richter. Bubba Norman accompanied the group as a chaperone and bus driver. MHS had 28 students competed in STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) Competitive Events on Thursday and Friday. Additional participants and the results of their competition were as follows:

Parliamentary Procedure, Jr. Division, third place, Jake Baker, Vance Brassell, Lindsey Faries, Meghan Ghormley, Brandon Hickman, Sabrina Ozio, Megan Royse and Allen Sparkman;

Illustrated Talk, Jr. Division, fourth place, Fred Schmidt, Jr.;

Interpersonal Communication, Jr. Division, fifth place, Martha Angeles, Gabriella Garnica, Yenifer Ibarra and Dayana Lopez;

Interpersonal Communication, Sr. Division, Kasadi Raysor, Amber Harrison, participants;

Career Investigation, Sr. Division, Reagan Quinn, participant;

National Programs in Action, Sr. Division, Brett Stanton, participant;

Chapter Showcase, Manual Display, Sr. Division, Bobbi Jackson, participant;

Entrepreneurship, Sr. Division, Lindsey Simpson, participant.

In addition to students competing, Terressa Ward was elected 2007-08 State Vice-President of Correspondence. Michael Coleman, Region IV Vice-President of Parliamentary Law, was also voted to serve as a Texas voting delegate at the national meeting in Anaheim.

Additional Madisonville Chapter members who attended were Nathan Ladd, Jordan Rogers and Ruth Alvarado.

FCCLA is the only in-school organization with the family as its central focus and is an integral part of the Family and Consumer Sciences Program which is sponsored by the Texas Education Agency. Sharon Pierce serves as the State Advisor.