By Paityn Wyatt
Eight members of the Aurora FCCLA chapter competed in Districts on January 22, in Kearney. The six members that qualified for state include; Brooklyn Christianson, Emma Hits, Emma Heckman, Hannah Vermillion, Laighla Gimple, and Emma Broman. Groups that place gold or silver will be moving on to state. From competing in state, internationals will be held in Seattle. Members spent weeks preparing by making speeches, decorating posters, and creating new objects.
Juniors Emma Hitts and Brooklyn Christenson competed in Repurpose and Redesign. Repurpose and Redesign competitors take something that is not usable anymore, and turn it into something that is. Brooklyn and Emma turned polyester material into heatable bunny stuffed animals. Along with making the bunnies, they had to give a presentation about the project and why they chose the materials they did.
Senior Naela Merrihew and sophomore Paityn Wyatt competed in Chapter Service Display. For Chapter Service Display, they had to create a trifold poster over a service project they did for their community. Naela and Paityn used Dressember as their project topic. They had to present a five-minute speech that explained how their project benefits those in the community. Paityn and Naela placed bronze and were one place short of moving on to state.
Foreign Exchange student Emma Heckman and Sophomore Hannah Vermillion competed in Fashion Design. For Fashion Design Emma and Hannah had to design and make a piece of clothing as well as a sketch of a collection. Their designs had to be based on a certain thing or idea. They made their clothing for people with neuro sensitivity issues, so they made a collection that wouldn't cause them to be overwhelmed/overstimulated.
Although Laighla Gimple did not compete at Districts, she will go straight to state. Laighla will be competing in Baking and Pastries. Sophomore Emma Broman competed in Food Innovations. In Food Innovations, participants are given a prompt that they have to follow. This year's prompt was “a snack to share with friends”, so she created a Sun Bar. A Sun Bar is a dessert similar to a scotcharoo except it is free of all the top allergens and it is vegan as well.
Those going to state will be competing for a spot at internationals on April 7-9. If the teams place top two at state they will be on their way to internationals. Internationals will be held in Seattle during June 29- July 3rd.