Webster County Career and Technology Center Early Childhood Education students recently traveled to state FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) competition in Jackson. After weeks of practice and preparation the students were ready to present projects and compete for the gold medals.
Crystal Stevens and Sarah Mitchell developed a project from research they completed on childhood obesity in Mississippi. The project, which they titled “We Heard It Thru the Grapevine,” was conducted with children at Webster Care Learning Center to teach them the value of grapes as a snack instead of snacks high in sugar. They presented a 10-minute oral presentation and a storyboard to inform the judges of their project. They received a perfect score of 100 and will represent Mississippi in Orlando, Fla., for national FCCLA competition in July.
Kintera Ashford developed a Student-Made Learning Game she named “Fly Away Math” to teach preschoolers number recognition and true counting while enhancing color and shape recognition.
Brittany Owensby created a character from a mop named Henry-Etta. Henry-Etta is teaching tool used to teach children tactile skills (finger sensations). The mop strings served as hair and Brittany created a face and clothing from various materials of different textures for the children to see and feel.
Brooke Burton designed a poster based on careers in Early Childhood. Her poster was titled “Shooting for a Career in Early Childhood.” Brooke drew shooting stars on the poster with various Early Childhood careers shooting from the stars.
Latorya Pittman developed a “Picture File” to enhance emotional development in preschool children. She also included the areas of clothing and health. Latorya matted and laminated the pictures to make them durable for children to use over and over.
Kintera, Brittany, Brooke, Crystal and Sarah all received gold medals. Latorya won a silver medal.
While at the state FCCLA meeting the students also attended leadership training workshops, a semiformal banquet and dance.