Emily Parker and Kate Parker, seniors at Colleyville Heritage High School

Emily Parker and Kate Parker, seniors at Colleyville Heritage High School, recently competed at the Region II Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Conference, held February 29-March 2. The two students competed in the Focus on Children category, earning fifth place, which qualifies them for the state competition scheduled for April 12-14 in Dallas.

The FCCLA regional conference focuses on providing students with opportunities for leadership development, skill-building and networking. Students can choose to compete in a wide variety of categories focusing on Family and Consumer Sciences Career and Technical Education classes.

The Focus on Children category that Emily and Kate participated in recognizes participants who use family and consumer science skills to plan and conduct a child development project that positively impacts children and the community.

They created an interactive website for parents to strengthen education outside of the classroom and promote parent-led learning. By giving parents access to their child's curricular milestones and appropriate activities, they hope to help students under six years old stimulate creativity and improve their critical thinking and family connections. The students presented their ideas to a panel of judges through a visual presentation board, a two-minute video and an oral presentation. The combination of these three items, scored by the judges, advanced them to the state level of competition.

Congratulations to Emily and Kate Parker on their stellar performance, and good luck at the state competition!