02/25/2025
On February 24, 2025, Kara Brockman, Noelle Rand, and Kass Salisbury attended the Peer Education Conference in Kearney Nebraska.
At this conference, students have the opportunity to learn about a variety of opportunities to be involved in their chapter such as, new possible activities for their chapter, examine and learn about activities other chapters around Nebraska have done, learn about the specific positions within the State Peer Officer Team, and learn about some possible career paths within their interests they may have never considered.
Another opportunity students get to experience at this conference is listening to a motivational speaker. The speaker for the 2025 Peer Education Conference was Tyler Cronin. Tyler works in marketing and he is part of the NSAA committee. His motivational speech was about Making Your Mark and finding out what your WHY is so that you can know what your WHAT is. In his speech he discussed the question, “How Do We Stand Out?” He explained that the best way to stand out is to be yourself. He gave incredibly empowering information to help the students and advisors grow as individuals.
As part of the event, students had the opportunity to also attend small group sessions throughout the day to learn more about careers and themselves. The sessions students attended were: a session with Tyler Cronin, Sargent Matt Workman from Nebraska State Patrol, an individual who has her own online business called Midwest Media by Melanie, and a session run by students from other chapters explaining projects they have completed within the FCCLA National Programs.
Each of the sessions provided students with empowering information about skills they could apply to themselves as well as in their chapter.
A key takeaway from the session with Tyler Cronin was: “When times change, don’t stop, pivot.” You can’t just give up when times become challenging, you have to pivot and find another path to get through the challenging situations.
A key takeaway from the session with Matt Workman was: You don’t always have to try to be the very best at everything, instead you should try to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be.
A key takeaway from the session with Melanie was: Self Awareness is a crucial part for personal development and achieving one’s goals and aspirations. The four most important factors for fully understanding who you are as an individual are: self understanding, positive mindset, healthy habits, and skill enhancements.
A key takeaway from the session that was run by members from chapters that had completed projects within the FCCLA National Programs was: The 3 units for the National Program Stand Up are: Assess current needs, educate others, and advocate to make decisions. This National Program assists individuals to build the courage to stand up for issues they may see in their school, family, career, or community.
Every activity and session provided students with empowering information, as well as possible ideas for what they could do in their chapter. These members of the Elwood FCCLA Chapter had a fantastic time at this event and are thrilled to bring new ideas and opportunities to the Elwood FCCLA Chapter!
