Leigh FCCLA Shines at State Conference
April 6-10 the Leigh FCCLA Chapter traveled to the annual State Leadership Conference. It was held at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in downtown Lincoln. Chapters from all around the state came together to participate in STAR events and attend numerous sessions.
The conference gave students the opportunities to attend leadership conferences, many sessions, listen to the keynote speaker - Dr. Laymon Hicks, and compete in STAR Events. At the closing session, the new state officer team was announced for the 2025-26 year
Chapters were recognized for all of their hard work throughout the year with several awards. The Leigh FCCLA Chapter was awarded with the Gold Chapter Award, and the Red and White Affiliation Award. The chapter was also recognized for their participation in these national programs: Career Connections, Community Service, FACTS, Families First, and Student Body. Mrs. Hillen as well received the “Adviser Committed to Excellence” Award, and Baylee Settje was a $1,000 Non-FCS Education Scholarship recipient. Madi Freundenburg and Averi Clausen were also recognized at SLC for Power of One.
This year the Leigh FCCLA Chapter had 7 members qualify for Nationals in their STAR events! Seniors Ella Urban, Brynn Settje, and Brianne Kuhr received State Runner-Up. Seniors Izabel Hollatz and Baylee Settje received State Champion. Lastly, junior Elizabeth Hoffman and freshman Trevor Hoffman received State runner-up. All these members qualified for the National FCCLA Conference in Orlando, FL from July 5-9, 2025.
Overall, the Leigh FCCLA Chapter had 9 gold Medalists, 7 silver medalists, and 7 national qualifiers.
Ella Urban, the chapter president stated, “This year's State Leadership Conference was a great success, with us having three groups qualifying to go to nationals in Orlando. We learned a lot through all of the sessions we went to that we can use in upcoming years to help our chapter progress even further. Baylee, Brynn, Izzy, and I had the opportunity to present a “Red Talk,” where we got to share our presentations that we give to the 6th graders to other chapters across the state. All in all, this conference was a great success!”
Megan Hillen, the Chapter Advisor stated, “Another wonderful State Leadership Conference for the Leigh chapter is in the books! As an adviser, I am incredibly proud of our students who competed at the state level! It was also exciting to see students from Leigh who delivered RED Talk presentations, received scholarships, and the effort from our chapter throughout the year to earn Gold Chapter recognition!”
Silver medals
Jocelyn Donnelly, Halle Korth - Promote and Publicize FCCLA (level 3), Ella Higby, Vylet Hollatz, Emersyn Urban - National Program in Action (Level 2), Ella Hansen, Bergan Settje - Professional Presentation (Level 1).
Gold Medals
Ava Kasik, Karly Wendt - Repurpose and Redesign (Level 3)
State Runner-up (National Qualifiers)
Brianne Kuhr, Brynn Settje, Ella Urban - Chapter Service Project Display (level 3), Elizabeth Hoffman, Trevor Hoffman - Professional Presentation (Level 3)
State Champion (National Qualifiers)
Izzy Hollatz, Baylee Settje - Chapter Service Project Portfolio (Level 3)