Thirteen students from the Culinary Arts program at Eastland Career Center (ECC) competed at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) state competitions with great success at the Ohio Expo Center (Columbus, Ohio) on April 27-28, 2022. Two students won state championships in their respective events while two more will head to nationals in San Diego, Calif., this summer.
In her first appearance at the state conference, junior Amarra Haines (Whitehall Yearling) competed in the Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation category. She repeated her performance from regionals with a gold placement and also earned a first-place finish in the event.
Joining her as champion was senior Faith Horton (Pickerington North), who repeated her performance from regionals with a gold placement in the Leadership category. Her performance and presentation was rewarded with first place overall at the state level.
Horton also serves as one of three students scheduled to make a return trip to the FCCLA national conference. Daniela Rank (New Albany) will join Horton for a return trip to Nationals following her second-place finish in the Culinary Math Management category. Last year, Rank was the national champion in the same event.
Rounding out the foursome that will represent ECC at the FCCLA national conference is senior Lahna Nelson (New Albany). Nelson achieved a gold rating and placed second in the Baking and Pasty category in April’s state competition. Nelson was also a national qualifier in 2021 while competing in the Pastry Tray category.
Ten of the 13 Culinary Arts students that participated in the state competition placed fourth or better in their respective events. A complete list of state competitors can be found below.
In addition to revering its competition successes, the Eastland Career Center FCCLA chapter also celebrated three students whose leadership qualities were recognized and were thus elected to become state executive officers for FCCLA Ohio. Zion Williams (Pickerington Central) will serve as the organization’s Vice President of Service Engagement. Debora Kawogo (Reynoldsburg-Bell) and Bethany Engle (Canal Winchester) will both serve as Region 3 Executive Officers.
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a national Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for students in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public and private school through grade 12. FCCLA offers intra-curricular resources and opportunities for students to pursue careers that support families. Since 1945, FCCLA members have been making a difference in their families, careers, and communities by addressing important personal, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education. Today, more than 155,000 members from 4,253 chapters are active in a network of associations in 47 states, including Puerto Rico.
FCCLA is a CTSO that Eastland-Fairfield Culinary Arts students are members of from the beginning of their education at EFCTS. Culinary Arts is one of more than 30 high school programs available at Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools. For more information on the Culinary Arts program at Eastland Career Center or Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools, visit www.EastlandFairfield.com.
2022 FCCLA State Competition Results (name, class, home school, event)
Amarra Haines (Jr., Whitehall, Hospitality Tourism and Recreation) - 1st place, Gold %
Faith Horton (Sr., Pickerington North, Leadership) - 1st place, Gold %
Daniela Rank (Sr., New Albany, Culinary Math Management) - 2nd place, Gold %
Lahna Nelson (Sr., New Albany, Baking and Pastry) - 2nd place, Gold %
Maricsa De Jesus-Reyes (Jr., Groveport Madison, Product Development) - 2nd place, Gold
Debora Kawogo (Jr., Reynoldsburg-Bell, Product Development) - 2nd place, Gold
Javon McDonald (Jr., Pickerington North, Interpersonal Communication) - 3rd place, Silver
Olivia Scheick (Sr., Reynoldsburg HS2, Sustainability Challenge) - 3rd place, Gold
Kayla Dietrick (Sr., Pickerington North, Job Interview) - 4th place, Gold
Eric Johnson (Sr., Pickerington Central, Product Development) - 4th place, Silver
Brian Ziegler (Sr., Groveport, Product Development) - Silver
Makaiah McGaughy (Sr., Teays Valley, Chapter Service Project Display) - Silver
Abbie Heskett (Sr., Gahanna Lincoln, Event Management) - Bronze
###em#< denotes qualified for FCCLA national competition