NASHVILLE – Nashville is usually known as Music City, but for a week, July 2-6, the city was flooded with red blazers as it became the host site for the National Leadership Conference (NLC) of the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).

The Brookings FCCLA Chapter sent 12 students this year, and they left with national awards and leadership positions.

More than 7,500 student leaders presided over the national conference, ran for national office, competed in events and presented workshops.

Last year, Brookings chapter member Kayla Gullickson was elected as the national vice president of community service at the NLC in San Diego. After a successful year of serving the organization, Gullickson, along with the nine other members on the National Executive Council, led their last national conference.

Andrew Rasmussen, a senior at Brookings High School, is one of 10 national officers elected during the 2017 NLC. He will serve the organization as the national vice president of programs in the upcoming year. He will represent the organization by traveling to Washington, D.C., Oklahoma City, Atlanta and many more cities to network, present workshops and speak to sponsors and corporations nationwide. He is the son of Robyn and Sheldon Rasmussen.

In addition to running for leadership positions, Brookings also had a strong showing in competitive events, adviser Joline Dunbar reported.

After a long year of studying and six rounds of rigorous competition at the NLC, the Brookings LifeSmarts Knowledge Bowl team placed second in the nation. Members of the team included Macey Fields, Hunter Lipinski, Cain Lounsbery, Marina Du and Abby Enevoldsen.

STAR (Students Taking Action for Recognition) competitors also had a wonderful showing at nationals, Dunbar said. Cain Lounsbery received gold and was third in the nation in Sports Nutrition. Marina Du also received gold and was third in the nation in Chapter Website Design. Abby Enevoldsen received gold and was seventh in the nation in Entrepreneurship. Kendra Reisetter received gold in Illustrated Talk. Hunter Lipinski and Rachel Timmerman received bronze in Culinary Arts.

Brookings members also presented workshops to more than 80 people in each session. Marina Du and Abby Enevoldsen presented their workshop “Millionaire Mindset” to teach teens how to be financially fit. Ainsley Powers and Skylor Ness presented a workshop titled “Brighten Your Future” focusing on personality types and career skills.

Kyle Sorbe represented Brookings at the national level by serving as a national Competitive Events Advisory Team member. Sorbe was selected last year as one of two members in the nation to serve a two-year term.

Macey Fields served as South Dakota State FCCLA’s first vice president at NLC. Fields also was on the National Finance Network Team. In addition, Fields went on stage to accept the National Student Body Runner-Up Award and $500 on behalf of the Brookings Senior FCCLA Chapter.