Hunterdon County Polytech Wins Gold at FCCLA State Conference

Flemington, N.J. – Hunterdon County Polytech Career and Technical High School is celebrating the results of the virtual Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) State Leadership Conference. Polytech students won gold medals, the school’s chapter received The Red Rose Chapter Award and advisor Natalie Guarino received a Master Advisor Award for New Jersey.

For their Chapter Service Project, Polytech Early Childhood Education students Mayce Fleming, Elijah Gerth and Kristen Weingart, all juniors, earned a 1st Place Gold medal for collecting and donating more than 350 books to area preschools and other local organizations to promote literacy in young children. They also tutored children in the community to build literacy skills.

In the Focus on Children category, senior Polytech Teacher Academy students Ava Dressendofer, Ashlee Miller and Jacqueline (Jackie) DiPaolo tied with another school for a 1st Place Gold medal. The students created a lesson for first graders on self-love, recognizing students today may be lacking self-confidence, social skills and self-love resulting from school closures and hybrid and virtual learning.

Junior Early Childhood Education student Gina DeSanctis created a resource box based on a community helpers theme that included a STEM activity for students. She received a 2nd Place Gold Medal in the Early Childhood Education category for her efforts.

DeSanctis said the learning experiences and focused curriculum at Polytech gave her impressive material for her portfolio - a required element for her event. “My own portfolio contained evidence of things I know about early childhood education, references, pictures of me working with the children and lesson plans.”

All the Polytech students are moving on to compete at the National Conference, which also will be held virtually. They hope to continue their winning streak at this next level.

To top off their performance at the FCCLA State Leadership Conference, Polytech’s chapter received The Red Rose Chapter Award for Excellence in Character, Community, Service and Leadership. This was the third year the award has been given and the third time Polytech has won.

Guarino said the students’ projects, community service and fundraising were all “prepared and executed virtually with limited time and limited access. That’s what makes us deserving [of the award] as a chapter. They produced quality work.” She noted the chapter’s largest community service leadership opportunity was in tutoring. “They are tutoring children in the community online who they’ve never met.”

For her leadership of the chapter, Guarino received a Master Advisor designation. She is now a two-time recipient of the award, previously earning it in 2015. This year, she was one of four honored, and will receive additional recognition at the National Conference.

In her application, Guarino, who is an instructor in Polytech’s Early Childhood Education and Teacher Academy programs, highlighted the ways she builds youth leadership and coordinates curriculum standards into chapter activities.

“I believe in the value of what FCCLA does for our students,” Guarino said. "They learn essential life skills including leadership, public speaking and community service. These are the types of people we want to become teachers."

Learn more about Polytech’s Teacher Academy and Early Childhood Education Program by visiting https://polytech.hcvsd.org/.

Hunterdon County Polytech Career and Technical High School is the largest component of Hunterdon County Vocational School District (HCVSD). Polytech is the district’s shared-time high school that prepares students for a seamless transition to college and career paths. HCVSD also operates an Adult and Continuing Education school and three science-based high school academies: the Biomedical Sciences Academy, the Computer Science and Applied Engineering Academy and the Environmental Sustainability and Engineering Academy. Learn more at www.hcvsd.org.

All pupils will be given equal opportunity for enrollment in programs operated by the Hunterdon County Vocational School District regardless of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender, religion, disability, or socioeconomic status (34 C.F.R. Part 100, Appendix B, Section IV-A). No qualified handicapped person shall, on the basis of handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity which receives federal financial assistance, et seq (34 C.F.R. Part 104.4(a)(b).