0//Paige Gerling and Audrey Lyp//

Mountain Vista’s FCCLA competed at their State Leadership Conference at the Downtown Denver Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, April 18. Throughout the day, competitors competed in various events, ranging from Food Innovations to International Experience.

“My favorite part about competing was just being able to show the judges as well as other groups all the work we did and how much effort we actually put into our entire project,” junior Julia Buntin, who competed in interior design, said. “[At state] all these kids come together and there’s just this sense of unity.”

The idea of unity was also felt by sophomore Isabelle McJunkin. “I love going to state and being together as an entire group, competing in the event you have been working on all year long,” McJunkin said.

McJunkin competed in the food innovations event, where she and her team placed second. The goal was to take a food and make it into something different, which they did with their project on healthy cake pops.

“We didn’t expect to [qualify for nationals because] there were so many people in our division,” McJunkin said. “[It was great] when we were called for second.”

Following the competitive events, an awards banquet was held, followed by a dance night.

Awards were handed out at an ceremony, where 19 members from the Vista FCCLA team qualified for the national competition in seven events. Gold, silver, and bronze medals were also handed out based on students’ scores during their events.

The following students qualified for the national competition:

Emily Mense, Isabelle McJunkin: Food Innovations

Lauren Cowie, Julia Buntin, Madison Chapman: Interior Design

Claire Woolfall, Lisa Woolfall: Fashion Construction

Morgan MacDonald, Katie Leichner, Lauren Conway: Hospitality

Nidhi Ramachandra, Alana Hicks: Entrepreneurship

Dani Mense, Maggie Rogers: Life Event Planning

Harper Boggs, Morgan McMartin, Laurie Chien, Olivia Vasquez, Cate Billings: International Experience

Photo Courtesy of Kim Cox