Margaret Herring, a senior Family and Consumer Sciences Education major, attended the National Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) conference and received first place in the Advocacy event. The competition was held during the 2014 national conference in San Antonio, Texas July 5-11. Margaret presented her research and experiences in an area she is passionate about—advocating for teaching life skills and nutrition information to middle and high school students.

FCCLA is a career and technical student organization for students enrolled in Family and Consumer Sciences courses at the middle school, high school, and post-secondary levels. Missouri State University is the first university in Missouri to develop a post-secondary program in Family and Consumer Sciences.

During the conference, Missouri State faculty member and Family and Consumer Sciences education coordinator, Debra Price, was presented with the 2014 National FCCLA STAR Events Volunteer Award. Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) events allow students to integrate content knowledge, community service, and career preparation by developing presentations for more than 20 different events. Price has volunteered at various levels to make the competitive events successful by assisting with competition organization, encouraging participation, and evaluating student presentations.

“Being involved with FCCLA as an advisor at both the secondary and post-secondary levels has allowed me to introduce students to a variety of career possibilities, participate in community service projects, and gain leadership skills to set them from their peers. My involvement has been a significant part of my professional growth to prepare future FCS teachers,” states Price.

In addition, Price currently serves as President of the Missouri Educators of Family and Consumer Sciences.