It has been a busy summer for many of the Callaway High School students, and for the members of the CHS FCCLA Chapter, it has been a very exciting one as well.

The chapter returned to Callaway from the national competition with two silver medals and a National Championship!

Dawson Mason, Jozi Edgington, Angel Johnson, Aubrie Birkel, Chenney Dishman, Kaygan Witthuhn, Tiersa Johnson, Amelia Pandorf, Lauren Reiff and Gracie Brennan, all members of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter at Callaway High School, competed at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference (NLC) held in Orlando, Florida, from July 5-9. The conference welcomed thousands of students from across the nation for a week of competition, leadership development, and career exploration.

The National Leadership Conference brought together thousands of student leaders from across the country to compete in Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Events, attend leadership workshops, and network with other FCCLA members.

Aubrie, Dawson, and Jozi represented Nebraska in the Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation Level 3 event and earned a gold medal. Amelia, Lauren, and Gracie also competed in Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation in Level 1 and received a silver medal.

Angel, Chenney and Kaygan competed in Repurpose and Redesign Level 3 and received a gold medal as well, and were the National Champions out of 48 teams. Tiersa Johnson received a silver medal in Fashion Construction Level 2.

Cont. PAGE 5: National Champs The CHS FCCLA Advisor is Charmayne Popp, now in her third year. In her first year as advisor she had four students qualify for nationals which was held in Denver. Last year there were two qualifiers who competed at nationals in Seattle, and this year there were 10.

“I took 15 kids to state, and out of the 15, 10 qualified,” Popp shared proudly. “I got sick the night before the awards ceremony and felt like heck, but it was a really good outcome. It was all worth getting sick,” she laughed.

The team includes two now CHS alumni - Dawson Mason and Jozi Edgington. Popp said she had grades 7-12 represented but did not have any freshmen this year. The amount of interest shown by the underclassmen has her very excited for the future of Callaway FCCLA.

“It’s crazy how many kids, even before the school year started, that aren’t in FCCLA came up to me and said they are going to be in FCCLA this year and do a STAR project. I’m thinking all the kids who did one this year will do it again, and I have had some incoming 7th graders who are interested in joining as well,” Popp said. “It’s awesome! Callaway has a lot of amazing kids and they want to be involved in a lot of things. And one of the perks is they get to travel, but they also have to understand that we are going to show up and compete, and I think that was definitely proven this year.”

This is the first year any of the CHS students qualified in the top 10 at nationals, which Popp said is an accomplishment in itself. “That is like the cherry on top. We were pretty blessed to have 10 kids qualify, and blessed to have a community that worked to get us to the national conference, because it’s not a cheap thing to attend,” Popp stated. “I heard another advisor there talking, who has been teaching for 18 years, and during that time she has only had four in the top 10. So just to put it in perspective, to have a national champion is such a blessing.”

Through competitive events, workshops, and networking opportunities, the students gained valuable insight into future career paths and the power of youth-led impact. All 10 Callaway FCCLA members look forward to applying these experiences to future leadership roles, continued involvement in FCCLA, and creating positive change in their school and community.

Popp said right after returning from the state conference she had parents begin planning fundraisers to go to nationals. “We were truly blessed by the Partners in Success grant - that is what supported us to get us to the conference. I don’t know how many community members who don’t even have kids in the school system anymore told me to let them know if I had kids who couldn’t go because of finances. Even our superintendent said, ‘We’re going to get the kids there. We are not going to let finances be the reason they can’t go.’ It was a huge stress relief!”

The girls who won the national championship have been in the chapter all three years that Popp has been there. They earned 4th place at state in Popp’s first year, and 3rd place her second year. “So when they won at state it was so fun to see their reaction. They were so excited! They told me, ‘Popp, we are making top 10 at state and we’re winning nationals.’ They instantly had that mindset, and to see that come true was awesome. Those three are also my officers next year. It has been so fun to watch them go from freshmen to now their senior year and watch them transform in their confidence and speaking abilities. It’s pretty cool to see, and crazy that I get to be a part of it all.”