New Ulm FCCLA is incREDible

New Ulm FCCLA has a history of involvement in the organization and the community.

October 30, 2022

New Ulm High School is home to a chapter of the Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). New Ulm FCCLA is very active and has a legacy of success in community service, officer elections, and other FCCLA opportunities.

New Ulm FCCLA members stand behind the gifts they purchased with the money collected from the 2021 Santa’s Closet project. (Nathaniel Janssen)

New Ulm’s FCCLA chapter has a history of community involvement. Annually, they partake in several service projects, such as Santa’s Closet. Santa’s Closet is a project where the chapter collects money from classes to purchase Christmas gifts for underprivileged families in the community. Santa’s Closet collection will take place this year from November 14 through November 18. FCCLA also partners with local organizations such as the Optimist Club and Sertoma Club for community service projects.

One of New Ulm FCCLA’s Parliamentary Procedure teams holds up their state gold medal certificates. Pictured (L-R) are Victoria Zacate, Abigail Houg, Isabella Hahn, Asia Stade, Kylee Nosbush, and Nathaniel Janssen (Nathaniel Janssen)

The chapter also has a legacy of success in competitive events. Every year since 2015, New Ulm FCCLA-ers have qualified to attend the National Leadership Conference, FCCLA’s annual week-long summer conference where many competitive events take place. New Ulm FCCLA has even had members become national gold medalists. In 2020, New Ulm FCCLA’s Parliamentary Procedure took home a gold medal for their near-perfect score.

New Ulm FCCLA also has several current officers and has had many in the past. Currently, senior Addison Rustin serves as an Area Officer. “I ran for FCCLA area office because I wanted to become more involved with FCCLA,” Rustin said. “I joined FCCLA after hearing about all of the interesting activities they do throughout the year,” Rustin said. Senior Nathaniel Janssen currently serves as a National Officer. Janssen is the first student in the history of New Ulm High School to serve as a national officer for a career and technical student organization.

FCCLA National Officer Nathaniel Janssen poses for a photo outside of the U.S. Capitol while at the 2022 Capitol Leadership conference. (Nathaniel Janssen)

New Ulm FCCLA takes advantage of the opportunities in the organization. Most recently, Janssen attended Capitol Leadership, an annual FCCLA conference in Washington D.C. where members advocate for CTE and FCS education. Janssen plans on attending the National Fall Conference in Columbus Ohio from November 11 through November 13 and the National Leadership Conference in Denver, Colorado from July 2 through July 6. Keep up with New Ulm FCCLA on their official Instagram page @nuhsfccla