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Bozeman, MT, March 20-21, 2025 – (FCCLA) 2025 State Leadership Conference (SLC) in Bozeman, MT March 20-21, 2025. FCCLA’s 2025 SLC drew over 700 members, advisers, and supporters from across the state with opportunities for personal development, career exploration, and community service.
The event was made possible through a sponsorship by the Montana State University College of Education, Health and Human Development.
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Throughout SLC, attendees participated in a variety of activities. The keynote speaker was Jordan Davis, and workshop session presenters Included Chef Eduardo Garcia of Montana Mex, Pete Brown, of Ash Interactive, and Brooklynn Gross of FCCLA's Leadership Training Team. Workshop sessions focused on a variety of topics including personal development, leadership training, career development, and physical and mental health resources.
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While at the conference, students competed in career-focused Skill Demonstration Events testing their knowledge in personal finance, consumer responsibilities, technology, health and safety, and more. Also held during the conference were STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) Events, where students showcased their efforts and accomplishments in areas including career development, community service, personal growth. Events also included student projects In areas related specifically to Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) content including child development, nutrition and wellness, personal finance, fashion design, interior design, and career development. |
Participants earn a bronze, silver, or gold medal based on their competition performance. Collectively, participants in the 2025 competition earned 94 gold medals, 95 silver medals, and 26 bronze medals, with 103 members qualifying for advancement to the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida this July.
One component of the conference activities included the Montana ProStart/FCCLA culinary and management competitions held at Gallatin College. Culinary students from nine Montana schools competed in both culinary and management competitions, with industry experts critiquing their performance. |
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March 20 saw both growth in participation both by schools and industry, as well as increased spectator attendance. The event was made possible through a sponsorship by the Montana State University College of Education, Health and Human Development and the Montana Restaurant Association Foundation.
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Throughout the day, ProStart-confirmed schools all across the state brought teams ready to demonstrate the workplace skills they had gained throughout involvement in the program.
For the 2025 culinary competition, nine schools competed with another six entries for the management competition. Earning silver medals in the culinary competition were teams from Hot Springs, Fergus, Billings West, Skyview, Flathead, Laurel, Powell County and Glacier.
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Earning gold medals and advancing to the national competition in Baltimore in April is the Belgrade team.
The ProStart program serves secondary students In Montana schools and Is sponsored by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation through a partnership with the Montana Retailers Association, preparing secondary students for a smooth transition into the hospitality industry.
Additional activities for conference attendees included participation in a series of career preparation workshops, chapter leader training, and a Connection Room, where students learned a variety of strategies to enhance well-being. Serving others was another major component of the conference. Participants created and donated original artwork to benefit the clients of Haven in the Service Room, and also volunteered during the Service Road Trip at Haven. |
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Additionally, attendees donated over $840 to Haven through the Miracle Moment collections.
Many generous sponsorships helped to support this conference. Platinum-level conference sponsors included the MSU College of Education, Health and Human Development, Gallatin College MSU, Montana Pork Producers, and Zwilling JA Henckels. Gold-level sponsors included Bequet Confections, Montana Mex, and the Montana Beef Council.
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Sponsoring at the silver level were Reach Higher Montana, Coolworks, and Olivelle. Serving as a STAR Event sponsor was Miles City Community College.
The Montana Department of Transportation, Campgrounds of America (KOA), the Gianforte Family Foundation, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and Zero to Five Montana all partnered with the group to sponsor outreach projects and/or awards for chapter’s local outreach projects this year.
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MDT also presented the Vision Zero awards at the conference, recognizing chapters implementing projects targeted to teens with the goal of reducing distracted driving. MDT grants provided funding for chapters to develop these projects and also awarded cash prizes to the top three applicants.
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Earning first place for their Vision Zero project was the Power chapter, with Moore named as second place, and a tie between Jefferson and Fergus for third place.
The Gianforte Family Foundation funded local chapter grants for outreach projects through FCCLA’s Families First National Program, and Kampgrounds of America provided cash prizes to the top three Families First Award applicants.
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Our winner of the State Outreach Project award was Three Forks, with Forsyth in second place and Power in third. Participants in the Montana FCCLA Week of Service Outreach Project were also recognized, with Dawson County the winner, Powell County was named as the second place winner and North Star as third. Collectively, Montana FCCLA chapters have logged an impressive 17,219 hours submitted in the 2024-25 year, with first place Service Hall of Fame honors going to White Sulphur Springs, second place to Forsyth, and third to Wibaux.
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FCCLA members also networked with fellow youth leaders and learned more about future career and college options during the Conference Expo/College & Career Readiness Fair featuring such participants as Gallatin College MSU, the Montana Department of Labor Job Services and Career Lab, Great Falls College MSU, Reach Higher Montana, MSU College of Education, |
Health and Human Development, Zwilling JA Henckels, University of Providence, Miles City Community College, Zero to Five Montana, Bequet Confections, The Montana Department of Transportation, University of Montana Western, Job Corps, Active Learning Labs, US Air Force, MSU Northern, Morris Brown College, Haven, Ash Interactive, Local Energy Dealer Fundraising, Montana Technical University, and Success N Fundraising, LLC.
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Those in attendance at SLC exemplified FCCLA’s annual theme, “Dare to Dream” and shared how they utilize the skills, experiences, and knowledge gained through FCCLA to make a difference in their families, careers, and communities.
As the conference came to a close, new members were elected to the Montana FCCLA Board of Directors, and the State Executive Council was installed. Lexie Wichman, a student from Moore, was elected as the Montana FCCLA State President for the 2025-26 year.
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The rest of the council includes: First Vice-President Brock Romero of Manhattan High School, Vice President of Finance Luca Helvik from Wibaux, Vice-President of Membership Gracie Baker of Glasgow,Vice-President of Competitive Events Bradlie Joseph of Huntley Project, Vice-President of Programs Madison Nelson of Ennis, Vice-President of Community Outreach Laurlynn Harrell of Power, Vice-President of Public Relations Mackenzie Hess of Columbus, and the Vice-President of Parliamentary Law Isabel Hunter of Powell County.
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About FCCLA
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a dynamic and effective student-led nation-based organization supporting youth on their journey to become the leaders of tomorrow and helping them address important personal, family, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education. FCCLA has over 240,000 members and more than 5,700 chapters from 47 state associations, the American Samoa, and Puerto Rico. |
FCCLA: The Ultimate Leadership Experience is unique among youth organizations because its programs are planned and run by members. It is the only career and technical intracurricular student organization with a central focus on careers that support families. Participation in national FCCLA programs and chapter activities aids members in becoming strong leaders in their families, careers, and communities.
Selected as one of eight states to participate in the Early Adopter Cohort OPI will be working with OCHE and other partners to review our Career Clusters and Montana Career Pathways. Click the image to find out more.
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Date: May 15th
Time: 4:00 pm
Mini Module - Leveraging AI in the Classroom
Presenter: Jacki Bauman, CTE Professional teaching Business and Marketing in Stevensville
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These Mini Modules are free for Montana ACTE members. Non members will be sent an invoice for $25.The link for the webinar will be sent to the email you list below.
Following completion of the Mini Module, you will receive an email with your OPI Renewal Unit Certificate, one credit for each hour.
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HOSA was able to serve a record number of attendees, offer workshops, provide judges, host events, and create hands-on activities – all because of unwavering support from stakeholders.
This year HOSA welcomed 3 new chapters and at least 7 brand new advisors, who did an outstanding job in their first year roles.
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There are many school districts who have not successfully submitted a cash request for this year’s Perkins Grant. The grant requires that there are at minimum quarterly cash requests submitted for reimbursement, to show that this money is being spent as budgeted. |
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If your districts receive less than $5,000 and we understand that this is often difficult to accomplish. However, the district does need to submit at least one cash request, prior to June 10, in order to have a Final Expenditure Report generated in the system.
Please be aware that the deadline for May 10 payments is April 25, please reach out if you need assistance in submitting a cash request, or in submitting budget amendments for this grant.
By missing these deadlines, the district will be marked as a higher risk, and could be subject to additional requirements.
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Below you can find information related to CTE Funding, Montana Career Pathways, Carl Perkins Grant and Data, State CTE Data, Work Based Learning and related topics. If you would like all of this information in one document you can reference that here. |
The information is also split into three different resources for more specific guidance. The linked documents are broken into three different categories; CTE Funding Guidance, CTE Montana Career Pathways, Montana Work Based Learning.
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Montana Career Pathways were completed in the late fall this year and are now posted on our CTE page. Please review your pathways and you can find the current year documents here as well as previous year in this Google folder.
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If you have any questions or need assistance, our team of specialists is available to support you. Map Key can be found here.
For questions, please contact:
OPI CTE Unit General Questions
Shannon Boswell, Career Technical and Adult Education Director
Eric Tilleman, Agriculture Education Specialist
Jamie Corley, Health Sciences Education Specialist
Kaitlin Trutzel, Industrial Technology Education Specialist
Ethan Igo, Business Education Specialist
Gayla Randel, Family & Consumer Sciences Education Specialist
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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