Class Acts - Adviser Spotlight

We interviewed Family and Consumer Sciences educators in order to learn more about the impact of FCS and how they advance the field. This time, we asked three FCS educators this question:

What are you doing to help advance the field of Family and Consumer Sciences education?

As a leader in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) education, it is both a personal and professional goal to help advance the field anyway I can. I consider it my main mission to provide students with the opportunity to grow, learn, and demonstrate both real life skills as well as career readiness skills. FCCLA integration plays a vital role in the success of FCS programs as well as the advancement of FCS education though National Programs, Competitive Events, and servicelearning opportunities. FCCLA’s authentic career exploration and career development experiences paired with their leadership development initiatives for students makes my job of keeping FCS at the forefront easy and very enjoyable. FCS and FCCLA allows students to see the real world value of their academic studies. It is about giving students opportunities to be aware, discover, explore, and apply the skills learned to their real lives, which in turn, advances the field of FCS.

Nicki Pedeliski, Adviser, CA

It is such a joy to work in the field of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS). As an FCS educator, I teach family-centered, career-focused skills for living and earning a living. Understanding the early beginnings of our start, as Home Economics, makes it easy to appreciate the way the field has adapted to the needs of our families and the career skills necessary in our ever-changing world. I work to advance the field of FCS today through education and advocacy. I attend relevant professional development whenever possible and pay it forward, by leading workshops when I am invited, passing on my skills and knowledge to students and colleagues. In class, I teach my students about our collective history and the opportunities available, which encourages them to be life-long supporters of FCS and FCCLA. We still need these valuable skills today to help us lead healthy, wellrounded lives with sustainable families.

Savannah Wegner, Adviser, CA

I feel like my entire life is involved in advancing the field of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) education. I am passionate about what we teach and seem to talk about it everywhere I go. In addition to teaching, I am also a pastor. Church members are always excited to hear about our fun, but are also very impressed at what FCS teaches our students. Obviously, I also respond to any social media posts claiming schools no longer teach basic life skills. Not only are they taught, they are taught more in-depth and to a higher degree than when I was a student! We now recognize how very important it is for students to understand how to collaborate, how to budget, how to cook, how to fix clothes, how to deal with stress as well as what to expect after they graduate, not just as young adults but as they move into the world raising a family and aging. FCS education is something everyone needs to know about because what we teach is so important to the success of young people in the world.

Stacey Jones, Adviser, KS