Three Howell High School alumni earned high honors at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) National Leadership Conference held in San Diego July 3 -7. Jodi Kilpela, Abbey Olszewski and Mary Pennala earned a gold medal in the Focus on Children category in the Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) competitive events at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference. Kilpela, Olszewski and Pennala earned the right to represent Howell High School and the State of Michigan at the national conference by earning the highest score and gold medal at the Michigan FCCLA State Leadership Conference earlier this year.
The Focus on Children category recognizes participants who use family and consumer science skills to plan and conduct a child development project that has a positive impact on children and the community. For their project Kilpela, Olszewski and Pennala provided assistance maintaining a Little Free Library at the Livingston Educational Service Agency (LESA) and installed and maintained a Little Free Library at the Howell High School Freshman Campus. The project was designed to help increase literacy rates in local schools by increasing the community’s access to reading materials. The project aligned with a statewide initiative to increase literacy rates. Kilpela, Olszewski and Pennala were students in Howell High School’s Education Careers program.
“Earning a gold medal at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference is a tremendous honor for Abbey, Jodi and Mary. It took a lot hard work and dedication, and I am incredibly proud of them,” said Jason Schrock, Howell High School principal. “They did a fantastic job representing Howell High School and showcased the excellent education and unique opportunities that we provide to our students each day.”
