The Montgomery County R-II FCCLA chapter enjoyed a successful trip to the Sunshine State.

Nine members earned recognition at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference on July 5-9 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Alyssa Davis, Aurora Gibson, Brady Falloon, Ethan Hogue, Ava Rhodes and Alaina Spurgeon represented the middle school, while Cohen Beattie, Mariah Fish and Olivia Spurgeon were the high school representatives.

At the high school level, Fish finished second in National Programs in Action Level 2 for her FCCLA Reading Challenge project, Beattie earned a gold medal and came in fifth in the nation for his professional presentation about the amount of sugar in each person’s diets and Olivia Spurgeon picked up a silver medal for her presentation about the importance of positive communication in her project with her cross country team.

“Our kids did awesome,” MCHS FCCLA adviser Beth Beattie said. “I’m so proud of them to have multiple kids finish in the top 10. It’s a huge accomplishment.”’

The middle school chapter competed in the Chapter Service Portfolio, Professional Presentation, Career Investigation and Event Management STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) Event and earned five gold medals and one silver medal.

Brady and Ethan placed sixth for their Murder Mystery Dinner Theater project in which they had to plan a special dinner to help support Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

Aurora and Alyssa placed eighth for their Coffee for a Cause project, which was running a coffee cart every Friday for teachers to buy breakfast and for students to purchase baked goods.

Ava came in 12th for her career investigation on history teachers.

Alaina was 16th for her Invest In Your Health, Invest In Yourself project, which taught people how to live a healthy life. Bella Nichols was Alaina’s partner, but didn’t attend nationals.

“Their accomplishment at the national level is a testament to their hard work, teamwork and unwavering passion,” MCMS FCCLA adviser Becky Gilbert said in a press release. “We are so proud of them and all they have accomplished.”

Cohen Beattie, Fish and Olivia Spurgeon qualified for nationals by finishing in the top two in state competition. Beth Beattie said she was thrilled with the efforts of all three of them at Florida.

“In order to be successful on a project like this, they had to put in some time and some effort,” she said. “All of these kids had other things that they’re also participants in. We had kids who are in FFA, FBLA or Student Council. We also have kids who are multi-sport athletes, so finding the time management skills is a huge thing for them as young adults.”

Beth Beattie said all of the members who went to Orlando also helped the state of Missouri turn in a strong showing at nationals.

“Missouri is incredible as a state,” she said. “We ended up being the state to beat because the Central Region in the United States was packed with very active and very solid chapters. We took home a lot of medals as a state. For our kids to finish well at the state conference, they continued to roll it out and do well at nationals.”