CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- Six middle school students from the JCS FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) Chapter represented Jefferson County Schools this summer at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Denver, Colorado. The students from Shepherdstown Middle School (SMS) and Wildwood Middle School (WMS) appeared before a panel of judges at the July event to share how they make a difference in their communities. All six earned medals for their FCCLA community service projects and three received national recognition, making them the first students in West Virginia to do so.
SMS student Holly Helwig, pictured below with SMS FACS teacher Andrea Faith, earned a gold medal for her project. Helwig worked to bring awareness to the arts by teaching art lessons to preschoolers at the Children's Tree House in Martinsburg. She was the only student from West Virginia to receive gold medal recognition at the national level for the 2022-2023 school year.
SMS students Amanda Baeza and Lily Nicodemus earned a silver medal for their FCCLA community service project and placed among the Top 10 finalists at the NLC. Baeza and Nicodemus organized a school food drive resulting in the donation of more than 500 items to the Shepherdstown Shares food pantry.
Three WMS students also received silver medals for their FCCLA projects. Derrick Carper was recognized in the Career Investigation category for his digital presentation on a career in the culinary arts. To complete the project, Carper interviewed multiple chefs, completed food preparation and cooking projects in the WMS kitchen, and volunteered his time in the culinary field.
WMS students Kayla Duval and Aby Cole also earned a silver medal in the Focus on Children category. Duval and Cole taught stress management techniques to Page Jackson Elementary students.
FCCLA is a student-led organization focused on building student leaders, strengthening the family unit, and serving the local community. All six JCS students competed at the state level in March before advancing to the national conference. JCS is proud to congratulate each of them on a job well done!