Exeter-Milligan Update: Family and Consumer Sciences

Exeter-Milligan FCS (Family and Consumer Sciences) and FCCLA update

By Mary Lou Vossler, FCS Instructor and FCCLA Advisor

FCS Classroom News-

Within the E-M FCS classroom you can find the students doing the following things:  Foods & Nutrition are finishing up constructing their "food trucks", creating and writing their menus, calculating their cost analysis, and will soon be competing with each other as selected student body members will have the opportunity to come in and purchase the food item that the students have selected to make to complete their projects. Interpersonal Relationships have just completed their STD/STI presentations and will be learning about the reproductive system.  FCS 8 has been focusing on health and wellness, ending the lesson with stress reduction activities.  Child development has been focusing on financial, emotional, physical and relationship considerations when becoming parents, and statistics about parenting and teen parenthood, Senior Seminar has been focusing on the effects of stress on the body, using stress as a motivator, identifying their own stress level and identifying stressors.  They will end unit with stress reduction techniques, 

EM FCCLA News-

A few EM FCCLA members have been very busy getting ready for District #4 STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) which will be held at EM on Feb. 4th.  

Some past FCCLA events have been: attending District #4 Fall Leadership Conference, attending, members were involved in Red Ribbon Week activities with the K-6th graders, collecting over 390# of non-perishable food for the Blue Valley Food Pantry, 5th quarter outdoor movie following a home football game w/ free popcorn and hot cocoa, serving the One-Act Play Dessert Luncheon and  attending National Fall Conference in Dallas, TX. was Mrs. Vossler and State Officer Caitlin Murphy, Making holiday goods for Exeter Senior Center, providing cookies and bars for Senior Center Soup Supper, helping with crafts and face painting at the Exeter Holiday Children's Event,

Upcoming events the end of Jan/Feb. include:  attending Mind Benders Career Conference, Hosting District #4 STAR Competition, celebrating each day of National FCCLA Week with something special, Volunteering at the Rialto Theatre in Feb. & March, Live Like Lisa activities (acts of kindness honoring the late Boone Central FCCLA Advisor- Lisa Groth), attending PEER Ed Leadership Conference.

Caption for photo:

Nebraska FCCLA State Vice President of Competitive Events, Caitlin Murphy placed 1st place in the Nation in on-line competitive event: Consumer Math, Caitlin also presented along with the other Nebraska FCCLA State Officers.

Exeter-Milligan Update: View from the Front Office

During the Christmas break, we again traveled to Phoenix to visit Karla’s family.  This is an annual trip and I do look forward to spending time with the in-laws.  We had the opportunity to see the new great-niece (only 3 weeks old) and also spend some time with our teenage nieces.  Teenagers – what a tough group.  It appears that spending time with Uncle Paul and Aunt Karla isn’t as cool as it used to be.  Maybe next year I can spice it up a bit or just embarrass them a little more while out in public together.

While digging through an old box, I found an article I had saved from the Arizona Republic titled “A player’s resolutions for Coach.”  The author, Tom Kuyper, wrote a letter to his coach, but from a kindergartner’s perspective. The letter was a New Year’s list of things for the coach to understand.  In it, he tried to impress that as kids, they just want to play.  Winning and losing didn’t matter as long as they got to play and be with their friends.  Please don’t bench “us” when we make mistakes or when we missed practice – they wanted to make it but mom and dad made them go to the class play instead.  This article made me think and wonder if we are sending the right message to our kids?  Are we stressing the importance of winning instead of teamwork and improvement?  Are we making the smart choices as coaches, sponsors, and parents?  Are we providing a positive example for others to follow?

Kids are not always going to make the smartest choices.  But as adults, we need to guide them along the way and help provide them the opportunities to learn and make informed choices.  In a recent leadership workshop I attended, the idea of developing a purposeful community was discussed.  To develop this purposeful community, everyone must work together and make informed choices.  Not all choices should be made for the children (students) because this could lead to “learned helplessness.” If a student does not experience success or failure, they learn to be helpless and that nothing they do matters anyway.  We, as a community, need to provide opportunities for our students to make these smart choices and also to provide positive examples for them to emulate. 

Everyone makes mistakes – but if we learn from our mistakes, then we become winners in the end.  As a purposeful community, we need to provide opportunities for our students and show them the right thing to do.  Some of the smartest people can make the stupidest mistakes – but we must learn from them and move on. 

Are we making smart choices?  Are we providing an opportunity for someone to learn?  Are we providing a positive example for others to emulate?  Are we building a purposeful community? The choices we make today have a direct impact on the future – on ourselves and on others.  We must be intentional in what we do and flexible enough to realize that sometimes we need to revisit and refocus. We all must experience failure in order to enjoy the taste of success.  Through these learning opportunities we build character and define who and what we are.

Thought for the month:

As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given. - Mary Lou Retton

Exeter-Milligan Finishes Third at CRC Tournament

Exeter-Milligan places third at the Crossroads Conference Tournament with a win over Shelby-Rising City 33-17.