Congratulations to the Family, Career, Community Leaders of America team at Washington Park High School!
FCCLA is both a curriculum and a student organization through Racine Unified focusing on careers in culinary arts and child care, for example, district spokesperson Stacy Tapp confirmed.
“FCCLA is part of classes and extracurriculars in Family and Consumer Science,” she said. “It includes students who are interested in culinary arts as well as other areas like child care.”
According to the FCCLA website, the mission of these classes and programs is to “Focus on the multiple roles of family member, wage earner and community leader, members develop skills for life through: character development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge, and career preparation.”
Led by Park High School Culinary Arts Teacher Larry Kempen, several members of the team took top honors at the FCCLA State Leadership Conference held last weekend at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. Seven students participated, and they earned two gold medals and five silver medals:
Gold Medal
Michaela Keller –Â Food Garnish and Presentation
Efrain Maldonado –Â Pastry and Baked Goods
Silver Medal
Kanaja King – Pastry and Baked Goods earned a Silver Medal in the same event.
Josh Walsh – Culinary Arts. He also earned a $1,000 renewable scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America
Dallas Otwaska –Â Â Culinary Arts
Dominic McKendall –Â Culinary Knife Skills
Stefan Wray –Â Culinary Knife Skills