Peer Education is a concept developed by National FCCLA to develop programs which are delivered to their membership and members’ communities via their members – hence the term peer education.
Peer education is a great place for members to begin if they want to become involved! Members have the opportunity to identify a concern in their community in relationship to one of the peer education areas, set a goal, plan a series of three projects or one major project, carry their projects out, reflect on their project, submit their projects to state staff and State Executive Council for review, and last but not least, receive recognition for the work they have accomplished.
Iowa Peer Education offers 9 National Programs for members to complete projects and apply for State and National Recognition.
If you wish to learn more about a specific peer education program, you may find that information below or contact Peer Education Coordinator, Janet Mann.
The programs are:
Career Connection
Community Service
FACT – Families Acting for Community Traffic Safety
Families First ***All NEW PROGRAM Summer 2023
Financial Fitness
Power of One
Public Relations – exclusive to Iowa
Stand Up
Student Body
By doing Peer Education Projects Members develop skills for life through: character development, creative and critical thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge, and career preparation. The State Executive Council (State Officers) have developed project suggestions each of the National Programs listed. These project suggestions are to help members to Identify a Concern, Set a Goal, Form a Plan (who, what, when, where, why, and how) Act, and Follow Up.
Registration & Submission
Registration Fee: $10.00 per team member
(Includes: Digital Certificate & Award Pin at SLC)
Please submit a new form for EACH team you are registering for your chapter. A team may be comprised of anywhere from one (1) to five (5) members.
Registration Due: November 15, 2024
How to Participate
If members are doing the three smaller projects (based on one of the National Programs). These are the due dates to submit your completed projects by:
Project 1 Friday, December 6, 2024
Project 2 Friday, January 24, 2025
Project 3 Friday, February 21, 2025
Members may do projects in two different formats.
Members complete three projects (based on one National Programs) Members will be turning in the three projects based on the due dates listed above. Projects will be reported on the state website using the Google doc reporting system.
Members complete ONE LARGE project (based on one of the National Programs) Members will be turning in the one Large project with proof of National Project Submission.
National FCCLA offers national recognition to chapters that complete a project from the national programs. This honor includes cash awards and special recognition at the National Leadership Conference, online, and in Teen Times magazine for the top chapters. Chapters apply online for recognition for their hard work and innovative projects with the National Program Award Applications available on the FCCLA national website under Awards. Cash awards are High School Award $1000, Middle School Award $1000, Runner-Up Award $500. Deadline: Award Applications must be submitted by March 1. The online award system will automatically close March 1, 5:00PM EST.
Large Project Due Dates
Friday, December 6, 2024 – Explanation of what your project is about and the time frame you will be following.
Friday, January 24, 2025 – Details of what you have accomplished and what you have to complete.
Friday, February 21, 2025 – Proof of completion
Officer Responsibility – Jayne Venard – WP of Membership
Career Connection Information Sheet
Required Project Ideas for each Career Connection Units
Members need to complete only 3 projects (each bullet point is a project)
Unit – My Skills
Create a poster on which colleges have FCS programs. Research the top 5 colleges comparing offerings from each of those colleges.
Have a class or group of your peers take an Interest Inventory Career Quiz. When finished have everyone share their findings. Locate those careers areas in your community or locations near you so that you can arrange for a job shadow.
Unit – My Life
Assemble a “Transportation Career Fair” Host this event in the school parking lot. For all students to attend to learn about these career areas and the training and skills required to perform these careers. Examples- Police cars, construction vehicles, delivery trucks, ambulance, fire truck, Semi truck driver, Car mechanics repairman with tools, Auto Body Repair, Window repairman, Tow Truck Driver, Regional Transit Driver, School Bus Driver, Waste Management, Insta cart driver, Lyft and Uber Driver, Grub Hub driver, these are just examples
Invite a speaker from your community to come with the tools of their profession. Have this professional share their journey with their profession. Example, healthcare, construction, cosmetology, dental, carpenter/woodworker, plumber, electrician, Heating and cooling, Chef, these are just examples.
Unit – My Career
Research the Interview Do’s and Don’ts, Present this to your peers through a skit. Invite people from your community or teachers to help by conduction mock interviews after learning the do’s and don’ts.
Invite someone to come speak about building a resume.
Host a Career Fair for students to gain insight on a wide variety of careers.
Invite someone from the “Children’s Cancer Connection” to speak about working for a non-profit organization. Ask them to share how FCCLA can help across the state.
Unit – My Path
Speak to your counselor and find out when college representatives will be visiting your school. Make posters, Share the dates and times that the college representative will be at your school, and encourage juniors and seniors to attend these meetings, make sure you are there to introduce the college representative and take pictures for the local paper to promote FCCLA and the connections being made for your peers with careers. Thank the college representative for their time!
Visualize your Connects – a useful technique that helps you reach your goals and live your dreams. Make a poster with a group of your peers containing their life/career goals, and a phrase that is important to you. Start drawing lines and creating connections between your ideas, goals to help you visualize yourself and you can program your subconscious mind to turn the goals into reality. Hang the posters around school to educate others about goals and connections.
Officer Assigned – Baily Dodd – VP of Community Service
The Community Service program guides members to identify local concerns and carry out projects to improve the quality of life in their communities. Through their projects, members experience character development and improve their critical and creative thinking, interpersonal communication, practical knowledge, and career preparation. FCCLA members learn more about themselves, others, and the world so that they can make a difference now and in the future.
Community Service Information Sheet
Required Project Ideas for each Community Service Unit
Members need to complete only 3 projects (each bullet point is a project)
Unit – Learn
Presentation/article about the Ronald McDonald House. Present information about the Pop Tab Drive and how to conduct a drive in your community. Have the Ronald McDonald House talk about their needs: volunteers, projects, and items that can be donated to support the house.
Organize and advertise a Pop Tab Drive in you school and community. Advertise your project, speak to different groups in your community to help with this project. (4-H, youth groups, Kiwanis, Key Club, Boy Scouts, FBLA, BPA, HOSA, Skills USA) Be sure to get a picture of all those who helped with your project and how the FCCLA Community Service project united these groups to a successful project.
Have a speaker come and talk about their experience with cancer, or someone working with or previously worked with children with cancer.
Unit – Lead
Host a walk for Childhood Cancer. Collect money and t-shirt size when they sign up for the walk. Design t-shirts and ask for sponsors to fund the t-shirts. Use the money from the registration and sale of the shirts to purchase toys, movies, games, books, and donate to a Children’s Hospital in your area that serves children during cancer treatments.
Host a fundraiser for members from your community dealing with cancer. Donate the money to help with fuel expenses during treatment.
Assemble small gift baskets for children in the hospital. Books, stuffed animals, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, card games (Go Fish). Donate these items to a Children’s Hospital in your area.
Unit – Serve
Make and serve a meal at a Ronald McDonald house for the families staying at the house.
Volunteer to help with cleaning the Ronald McDonald house
Host a “Ronald McDonald House Gift Shower” Publicize the needs of the Ronald McDonald House and collect items from your community to support the house. Host a school dance with admission cost being items that the Ronald McDonald House needs to support families and their stay at the house.
Officer Assigned – Abygale Luddington – VP of Parliamentary Law
Families Acting for Community Traffic Safety (FACTS) gives members the information and incentives they need to build an understanding of what it means to drive safely, both today and in the future. Through their projects, members work to educate adults and peers about traffic safety and support enforcement of local rules and regulations. FCCLA members are given the tools to help families promote basic safety attitudes that can last a lifetime.
Required Project Ideas for each FACTS Unit
Members need to complete only 3 projects (each bullet point is a project)
Project Suggestions
Unit – People
Safe Driver – Contact “Think Fast” and organize a high school assembly and present the interactive game based program. Think Fast™ Interactive was developed in 1997 to provide an engaging and educational program that tackles important topics such as underage drinking, drug use, bullying, traffic safety, and distracted driving. https://thinkfastinteractive.com/program/teen-driver-safety/
Vehicle
Seatbelts and Airbags – Create a project, presentation, request a speaker, make a poster about proper use of seatbelts and how they save lives. Include information about airbags and the danger of small children in the front seat.
Safe Kids – Katy Sowden (katy.sowden@unitypoint.org) Child Passenger Safety Tech for Iowa. She also helps run the Safety Store located at Blank Children’s Hospital.
Roads
“Follow the Rules of the Road” “Know your Signs” Create a project, presentation, request a speaker, make a poster about the rules of the road and knowing what the signs mean when driving.
***State Sponsor – Iowa SAFE Program – Specialist – Dorcas Fitzgerald, NBCMI, CPST
Des Moines, Iowa, 515.766.8307 cell email – safeiowa@dccca.org
Seatbelts are for Everyone Flyer
***State Farm is a National Sponsor
Officer Assigned – Jacob Morgan – First Vice President
Families First Information Sheet
Final Project Suggestions
Dynamics – Understanding families and family relationships – What do Families facing cancer have to deal with?
Interview active members of your family and have them list all of the activities they are responsible for or the chores they do to keep your family functioning. Take those responses and reflect how your life would be affected if they were victims of cancer, a traffic accident, or other medical issues.
Do research on different opportunities offered for families who have someone dealing with cancer. Include websites to sibling camps offered for those families. Then display these findings on a poster board and put them around your school to encourage people to get involved with these programs.
Balance– Enabling young people and families to prioritize self-care and overcome obstacles – How does a cancer diagnosis directly and indirectly affect families and the community?
Host a family first event at your school displaying information about the families first unit Balance. Include ways families can prioritize self-care to overcome obstacles, and emergencies that may happen.
Create a poster to help families during their busy seasons and give ideas on how to stay connected and have family time, display the posters around your school.
Development – Learning how to nurture and care for children – How can the community collaborate to support families dealing with illness or spread awareness about illness prevention?
Research different ways FCCLA directly helps feed the childcare workforce. Make and display a poster of resources for high school students to become involved in childcare programs through FCCLA.
Host a babysitting clinic for middle school students and partner with 4H extensions, Red Cross Babysitting, or a local hospital to offer helpful information about watching children.
Safety– Prioritizing and practicing safety within families – How can families facing cancer balance treatment and their careers? What are medical career paths for people interested in working with children?
Research about Iowa’s bicycle safety regulations and create fun groups to teach lower elementary students how to be safe while riding bicycles. Can partner with your child development class to work with different age groups that would need different demonstrations due to age.
Work with local hospitals and host a local car seat drive/ safety check where you can share with new parents about the importance of car seat safety.
CAP (Child Assault Prevention) contact Janelle Ballhagen (Janelle.ballhagen@unitypoint.org) for resources for 6th – 12th grade on cyberbullying, sextortion, and online safety.
On Line Safety (for teens) Nemours Kids Health, includes link to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s “Cyber tip line” where teens can report grooming/on-line predators.
NetSmartz Home (missingkids.org) Online Safety Resources-videos, PowerPoints, games, education, links related to online safety for teens.
Bike Safety – Curriculum Kit – to request a kit contact angie.clark@unitypoint.org
Fire Safety – Unity Point has a FSH house (Fire Safety House) which travels around the state providing fire safety and severe weather education to elementary/middle school students at community events. FCCLA members can volunteer during the presentation to help educate young children on these important topics. (Script will be provided for teaching) contact angie.clark@unitypoint.org or Fire Safety House (unitypoint.org)
Safe Kids – Katy Sowden (katy.sowden@unitypoint.org) Child Passenger Safety Tech for Iowa. She also helps run the Safety Store located at Blank Children’s Hospital.
Iowa Poison Control Center – Janna Day (janna.day@unitypoint.org) excellent resource for an outreach educator, and information for our members to educate their peers.
Medication resources – https://ymiclassroom.com/otcmedsafety/
Skills – Developing strategies to be a good family member – What can the community do to nurture children and provide the best health possible?
Host a meal drive where families come and make freezer meals for themselves and families in need. Partner with local meals on wheels or food pantries.
Create and event where families can make their own communication game to encourage strong healthy communication between all family members.
Officer Assigned – Gracie Bloes – VP of Finance
Financial Fitness engages members in teaching one another how to earn, spend, save, and protect money wisely. Through FCCLA’s Financial Fitness program, members plan and carry out projects that help them and their peers learn to become wise financial managers and smart consumers. FCCLA members can build their peers’ financial literacy and teach them skills for managing their finances.
Required Project Ideas for each Financial Fitness Unit
Members need to complete only 3 projects (each bullet point is a project)
Unit – Earning
Do research between CD’s and the different types of savings accounts. You can research online or visit and interview a local finance individual. Give a presentation, slideshow, or create a poster to educate your peers on the information you learned.
How to Manage your Paycheck! Give a presentation, write a newspaper article, or present to a class how you manage your paycheck. Teach your peers how to set a budget and how to set financial goals for their future.
Raising Money for a Cause! Contact your local Children’s Hospital or Ronald McDonald House. Plan and host a fundraiser to benefit your choice of recipient. Call the Hospital or Ronald McDonald House and construct a wish list. Then determine how you want to go about raising the money. Make sure to include your community in your project. Solicit your community in your project by explaining your goals and how they relate to the FCCLA Mission.
Unit – Spending
Spending money on a trip. Plan a vacation and set a budget and travel expense. Write down everywhere you plan to go, what the prices are of each meal you plan to eat, where you are planning on staying, or and souvenirs you plan to purchase. Then make a poster, slideshow, or give a presentation about challenges you faced and how you planned to spend your money. Explain tips on budgeting each of the travel expenses, showing the comparisons of how you saved while planning the spending on the trip.
Event Planning. Make a budget and plan a big event (like a wedding). The, give a presentation on how you made decisions to stay within your budget.
Taking out loans. Invite a Banker to present about taking out a loan. Talk about being financially responsible, interest rates, and paying off the loan. Be sure to take pictures and put this in the newspaper to publicize how FCCLA is active in your community.
Unit – Saving
Set SMART goals for future expenses (College, trips, large purchases) You can do this by making a slideshow, poster or giving a presentation about your future financial goals, long term/short term, and explain how you plan to reach them while educating others about how to do the same.
Invite an educational speaker. Have the professional speak about how to earn, save, and protect your money.
Build your Financial Path to College Graduation. Have your peers pick a college and a career path that interest them. Calculate the cost and then construct a plan to pay for it. Make a presentation, slideshow, or poster to educate others about what you think is the best way to walk out of college debt free.
Unit – Protecting
Loans vs Grants! Visit with an industry professional or research the pros and cons of loans and grants. You can create a poster or give a presentation to your peers.
Educate other about Spam! Research how to avoid Spam. Give a presentation to your peers about how to avoid receiving Spam messages through your computer and phone.
Invite a Speaker. Invite someone from your local financial institution to present to your FCS classes about ways to protect your money.
Officer Assigned – Addison Kovarna – President
Power of One helps members to find and use their personal power. Members set their own goals, work to achieve them, and enjoy the results. The skills members learn in Power of One help them now and in the future with school, friends and family, and on the job. Power of One is completed by one member. Your chapter may have more than one member doing Power of One. Each member sets their own goals within each unit to better or improve themselves.
Power of One Information -Nationals
Bullet points are just Project Suggestions/Ideas for each of the Power of One Units, you may pick your own topic.
Members need to complete all 5 Units and complete the Power of One FCCLA Recognition Application the application can be found on the National website under the Engage tab within National Programs.
Unite 1 – A Better You:
Improve eating habits by tracking food consumption for a four-week span. Track your success.
Focus on your mental health by doing stress management activities and tracking your progress for a month.
Organize a school-wide health fair for all student to gain awareness over relevant health topics.
Unit 2 – Family Ties:
Complete an act of community service with your family or FCCLA Chapter. Empower your family or FCCLA family to volunteer at a local Ronald McDonald house, foodbank etc.
Spend time with your family planning and executing a family dinner once a week for a month. Have a variety of topics to discuss at dinner with no electronics at the table.
Unit 3 – Working on Working:
Plan and Create a career fair for your school.
Develop a list of potential career choices and job shadow within the field of your choice.
Build a resume and create a mock interview setting to practice your interview skills.
Unit 4 – Take the Lead:
Volunteer within your community.
Plan a service project for your FCCLA Chapter
Expand your leadership skill by running for district, state or national office.
Teach younger students a lesson over financial literacy, child development, FCCLA membership, or other FCS based courses.
Speak Out for FCCLA:
Help plan a detailed list for your chapter’s FCCLA week.
Write an article for your local newspaper and/or school newsletter.
Make a presentation to your school board advocating for FCCLA
Officer Assigned – Alyssa Hoogestraat – VP of Public Relations
Public Relations team members “maximize” the flow of information between FCCLA and the public! Public relations team members will help “brand” FCCLA across Iowa by using topics of public interest and news items that continue to spread the goals of FCCLA. Common activities include speaking at conferences, working with the press/media and helping publicize the Iowa FCCLA website through the use of social media to energize members statewide.
With Peer Education it is all about connecting your project to a FCCLA National Program. One goal of Public Relations is to tie this program to one of the many STAR Events. Examples would be: Promote and Publicize FCCLA, Say Yes to FCS Education, Professional Presentation, National Programs in Action, Interpersonal Communication, Chapter Service Project (display or portfolio) Career Investigation. Below you will read different project suggestions for Public Relations. These are just suggestions. You can plan your own project.
Required Project Ideas for Public Relations
Members need to complete only 3 projects (each bullet point is a project)
Project ideas specific to our FCCLA State Theme “Reach for the Stars”
Organize a bake sale with another Peer Education and advertise the event within the school and community.
Design a chapter t-shirt and reach out to a printing company for cost of the shirts. Set up the documents to take orders within the FCCLA Chapter. Also offer sales to faculty and community members. What a great way to spread the word about FCCLA when community members wear the shirt.
Help your adviser recruit Peer Education teams and assist them with completing their projects. Help the members to fill out a National Program award applications for the National Program they have completed projects for, example Student Body, Families First
Help chapters create a chapter website and train underclassmen to manage the website.
Speak to a local community group about your FCCLA chapter to create a positive relationships and potential future partnerships.
Research and apply for a grant to get funds for FCCLA marketing materials. Examples FCCLA vinyl posters, National Program posters, FCCLA jackets, Locker magnets, and anything on the FCCLA website.
Plan FCCLA Week Example, put magnets on FCCLA member’s lockers, plan dress-up days, or organize a chapter member of the week picture and newspaper article.
Host a 6th/7th grade talk about FCCLA to get them to learn more about FCCLA.
Make a digital scrapbook for your FCCLA Chapter.
Make a chapter scrapbook. (Digital or paper)
Create monthly newsletters and send them out to students about what FCCLA is doing.
Officer Assigned – Derek Folchert – VP of National Programs
The FCCLA Stand Up national peer education program guides members to develop, plan, carry out, and evaluate advocacy activities to improve the quality of life in their communities. Members develop their voice to make a positive impact. Through their projects, members experience character development and improve their critical and creative thinking, interpersonal communication, leadership, practical knowledge, and career preparation.
Stand Up Information – Nationals
Required Project Ideas/Suggestions for each Stand Up Unit
Members need to complete only 3 projects.
Mental Health: Invite professionals to discuss teens’ mental health issues with school administrators, giving them a foundational understanding of mental health resources for students. Invite professional speakers and create workshops for students about the importance of mental health. Print flyers about hotlines and hang them around the school. Host after-school mindfulness sessions, such as yoga, meditation, and journaling, to improve self-awareness and self-understanding.
Homelessness: Gather information from those who experience homelessness to understand their difficulties and needs. Give presentations to peers to get their help with the situation. Encourage peers to volunteer at centers or other organizations to help serve food and provide other services, such as the Food Bank.
Health: Research the effects of sleep and caffeine usage on teen’s development. Invite professionals in the field to give workshops about the effects. Create warning posters on energy drinks for your school or local spaces about the dangers of caffeine and energy drinks, ensuring that posters are themed and eye-catching.
Education/Activities: Initiate surveys of students in your school about their interests, such as clubs, subjects, or activities they would want to have in your school. Speak to school administrators about the trends of your results, suggesting that the activities in need would help students engage with school more. Create a space or a club that will facilitate those peers’ interests.
School: Initiate surveys of students in your school about potential improvements in your school, such as facilitating a salad bar, establishing a vegetable garden, and distributing recycling bins. Present ideas to peers and environmental teachers that would support the act and propose to school officials. Create a gardening club or give out volunteering hours for students to maintain the garden, learn about plants and other biological processes, and possibly distribute the produce to those in need.
Health Mental Support: Research the role of mental support during the recovery and treatment period of pediatric patients. Make a presentation about the need for mental support with pediatric patients to the local chapter. Use the act of writing letters to support patients mentally. Reach out to initiatives, hospitals, or clinics that would support letters and donations to patients. Hold fundraising events to fund letters and card fees. Hold chapter meetings to help with writing encouraging notes for pediatric patients.
Officer Assigned – Chloe Broer – VP of Competitive Events
The Student Body program helps members learn to make informed, responsible choices for their physical and mental health while also providing opportunities to teach others. The teen years are an ideal time to establish healthy attitudes and habits to last a lifetime, which is why Student Body gives members the facts and incentives they need to build a healthy body.
Student Body Information – Nationals
Required Project Ideas for each Student Body Unit
Members need to complete only 3 projects (each bullet point is a project)
Unit 1 – The Healthy You
Give a presentation, invite a speaker or write an article on substances or lifestyle choices that are damaging to your health (ex. Energy drinks, vaping, drinking etc.)
Have a speaker or dietitian speak to your school about healthy choices.
Unit 2 – The Fit You
Host a walk to raise money or awareness for Make a Wish or the Ronald McDonald House
Host a day-camp for local kids to learn about building good health (mental and physical) through games, walks, etc.
Have student led warmups in Physical Education classes and sports
Host a workout class (Zumba)
The Real You
Have a motivation speaker at your school to discuss teen mental health
Make a poster to showcase how many healthy choices impact mental health (benefits of exercise)
Make encouraging notes to place around your school or to fellow peers.
“Thought for the day” to share a positive not on morning announcements at your school.
The Resilient You
Make your community aware of damaging substances that cause harm to emotional health (ex. Vaping and drugs) through speakers or writing an article
Share and develop strategies on how to deal with emotions and model good relationships for healthy behaviors
Make a poster that shares ways to relax and reduce stress for your emotional health