About 85 Bingham High students are learning leadership and career preparation skills, thanks to the school’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America chapter.

Back in the 1950s, Future Homemakers of America encouraged girls to stay in school to focus on family and marriage. Since then, the organization has gone through many changes, including changing its name, to reflect societal changes. It now offers male and female students a chance to develop leadership and personal growth skills to prepare for careers.

“FCCLA is the only student-led organization that focuses on family and the community and even breaks down to the individual,” adviser Aubrey Turnbow said.  “We have a place for everyone where they can create, plan, budget and organize activities and service, and those skills can be helpful to them when they apply for college and scholarships.”

Sixteen student leaders direct the club that helps members develop skills in the organization’s focus of family, career and community. Those leaders were trained and listened to keynote speaker Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox at a Sept. 23-24 fall leadership conference.

“They learned to work with others, and they’re putting the skills to use as each of them will be leading an activity, service project or event this year,” Turnbow said.

Student leader and junior Claire Malloy is organizing others in decorating and sponsoring a tree at the Festival of Trees Dec. 4-6. She organized her team to design the tree, and they are currently making ornaments, wood cut-outs and a tree skirt to match the theme of the childhood game, Candyland.

“Every year, we donate a tree, but this year, we decided to dedicate it to someone.  So the student leader asked FCCLA student leadership, and then, sent out an email to teachers asking if there is someone who they can dedicate the tree to. Out of the responses, they selected a teacher whose friend recently lost her 8-year-old daughter, Cora Adams, so they thought this theme would bring back childhood memories,” Turnbow said.

At the same time, student leaders and seniors Breanna Gray and Teisha Christensen have been working on a campaign, “Don’t Text and Drive.” They organized a presentation for all 120 students in the family and consumer sciences department and invited South Jordan Police Officer Scott Russell to share statistics and arrange an AT&T simulation of what happens when people aren’t focused on the road. They also had students sign a pledge not to text and drive.

“There are a lot of national programs where our students can take action and it fits into our mission,” Turnbow said.

That mission includes family, career and community studies; human development and early childhood; food science; hospitality, tourism and recreation; and fashion and housing design. Those are the same categories that a team of five Bingham students will competed in the knowledge bowl at the national cluster Nov. 13, held in Salt Lake City.

Other members of Bingham High’s FCCLA plan to compete at the regional competition Feb. 5 and hope to qualify for the state contest March 10-11.