Civics lessons can improve citizenship and grades

Kate Ronston – Mustangs Ahead

(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) - Lakewood Ranch High School (LRHS) Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) club focuses on family and consumer sciences. The club is competing and working in the areas of education and training for students.

FCCLA’s main goal is to develop students’ life skills, including career preparation, leadership, and community service. “We focus on education and training,” explained Julia Vendrimini, LRHS secretary of FCCLA.

The club is currently competing in the Public Policy Advocate (PPA) competition. FCCLA is working on civic workshops as part of this project. These workshops are designed to help students with their civics and history classes.

“Students can practice before the U.S. History End Of Course (EOC) exam, Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History exam, or the AP World History exam,” stated Vendrimini.

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The civic testing that FCCLA has conducted so far has yielded positive results.

“Our average test results went up by 20% after the workshop, so we found that it helped immensely,” reported Vendrimini.

FCCLA nationals occur every year and are a recurring event for the club. Their PPA competition will be presented at the state level and possibly at nationals.

“This competition will be presented first at the State Leadership Conference (SLC), and if we're in the top two in the state, then we'll go to the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Orlando,” expressed Vendrimini.

Last year in Seattle, the club placed in the top 10 nationwide and is hoping for a repeat.

The nationally ranked club is planning to hold another civic workshop in the spring. “We may host a second testing in the media center around April,” said Vendrimini.