Niles North Students Earn More Than 30 Awards at FCCLA Contest

Niles North students recently competed on February 21 in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc. (FCCLA) Sectional Leadership Conference held at Harper College. Niles North High School students were among the competing schools in the areas of Culinary, Early Childhood Education and Fashion, Design, Construction and Merchandising and earned five Most Outstanding awards, 15 Gold awards, 11 Silver awards and 23 students qualified for state competition. The State Competition will be held April 2 through 4 in Springfield, IL.

STAR events (Students Taking Action with Recognition) are competitive events in which members are recognized for proficiency and achievement in projects, leadership skills and career preparation. Niles North students Lilyan Basaka and Istar Avakian qualified for the State Level of STAR Culinary.

Students at FCCLA competed to show mastery in the Proficiency events, which include culinary, apparel and textiles, and early childhood contests. Students were awarded Most Outstanding, Gold or Silver awards.

Niles North results:

Most Outstanding: Amanda Hansen, Fashion Construction – Formal/Semiformal; Nathan Lesperance, Relish Tray; Alex Cortes, Salads; Lilyan Basaka, Salads; Ethan Dan, Salads. These students also qualified for the state competition.

Gold: Nicole Lourdes Godoy, Children’s Literature - Storytelling; Samantha Fajardo, Children’s Literature – Storytelling; Isabel Yakoubek and Emily Rubin, Children’s Literature – Storytelling; Nina Artwell and Alexandra Taylor, Children’s Literature – Storytelling; Gianna Agrelo and Maheen Sadruddin, Children’s Literature – Storytelling; Maria Bank and Despina Mangalousis, Fashion Apparel Display; Jason Le, Preschool Lesson Plan; Lauren Hankes, Relish Tray; Ishtar Avakian, Salads; Angelo Vince Mata, Salads; Thomas Giamouridis, Salads. These students also qualified for the state competition.

Silver: Bella Kaminsky, Fashion Career Image; Ishtar Avakian, STAR Culinary; Lilyan Basaka, STAR Culinary. These students also qualified for the state competition.

Silver: Zoey Curth, Cake Decorating; Livi Phillips, Cake Decorating; Masha Misyutina, Children’s Literature – Storytelling; Miriam Lopez, Fashion Apparel Display; Audrey Emanuelle Francisco, Fashion Career Image; Zuqia Khan, Fashion Construction – Former/Semiformal; Hafsa Mohsin, Fashion Construction – Casual; and Tyler Williams, Relish Tray. Bronze: Ethan Dan, STAR Culinary.

FCCLA is a dynamic and effective national student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and address important personal, family, work and societal issues through family and consumer sciences education. FCCLA has over 190,000 members and over 6,500 chapters from 50 state associations, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The organization has involved more than ten million youth since its founding in 1945.