ILAFCS Updates

Our member spotlight is Melissa Cleary. She is currently teaching middle school FACS in Crystal Lake and this is her 14th year teaching. The curriculum is broken up mostly between culinary and sewing construction. She sponsors an after school baking club for students. Melissa also works on the school yearbook. This year, she has taken on being a Poms and Track coach. She loves having the ability to make connections with students outside the classroom. Melissa has served on the board for the past 11 years. She has held various positions from member-at-large, treasurer, president, and currently past president.

Melissa enjoys traveling with her daughter, son, and husband. You can find Melissa reading multiple books at a time and she tries to be active daily. She is truly grateful to teach Family and Consumer Sciences and loves what we offer our students.

On March 3, 2023, we hosted our ILAFCS conference at Illinois Institute of Technology in Wheaton. We had in-person and virtual attendees, and we learned from experts in all areas of FCS. Thank you to all who attended! We hope you found the day useful. Check out our Twitter page to see pictures from the day.

We are so thankful for our strong relationships with FCS-related businesses. The following businesses sponsored our conference. Please consider checking out their websites and seeing how you can incorporate their resources and products into your classroom.

Goodheart-Wilcox

The Hairy Ant Screen Printing

The Incredible Egg

S.A.N.E. Sewing and Housewares

Realityworks

Midwest Dairy

Ciao Bella Sewing

Love Notions Sewing Patterns

Thimbles Quilting Supplies & Sewing Machines

If you teach Child Development, we have a great giveaway opportunity for you. Enter into a drawing for a 2-hour virtual training session with G-W's National Content Specialist, Mandy Green. She will focus the training on Child Development Early Stages through Adolescent. You and your colleagues may share the training session. Enter by emailing the ILAFCS board at illinoisafcs@gmail.com.

Have you written a grant for classroom furniture, new technology, food for your culinary classes, sewing machines, and more? We would like to create a list of grants FCS teachers have applied for to share with our members. We plan to also add this list to our website for teachers to refer to in the future. Please fill out this short form with information about the grant you have applied for and/or received so we can help support other FCS teachers and their programs, too.

The Illinois Livestock Leadership Institute is hosting a 3 day trip that focuses on leadership, citizenship, and communication skills through hands-on experiences for students ages 16-20. A maximum of 20 students will be accepted. The 2023 trip will take place June 7-9 in Fair Oaks Farms, Indiana. Tour stops include: Funk Farms Trust, Kilgus Farmstead, and the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Please share with students who may be interested in applying.

As a Professional member of AAFCS, we'd like to remind you of there are several features available to you with your membership

• An online subscription to our official publication, the Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences. Visit this page to set up your online account.
• Access to our archived library of more than 80+ learning webinars. Learn more here.
  
• You're also a member of our state affiliate. Participating in affiliate events will help you maximize your membership value! Check out our website or Facebook page to see what’s going on.
  
• You'll also want to bookmark the AAFCS Calendar of Events, which has info on national and affiliate events related to AAFCS and the FCS field, including the AAFCS Annual Conference & Expo, a can't miss event for future FCS professionals!
  
• An immediate benefit available to you is access to insurance savings on student educator, auto, and even pet insurance through AAFCS' partnership in the Trust for Insuring Educators. And, discounts from national companies like Hertz. You can explore these savings and more by signing into MyAAFCS, our online member portal.
  
• If you're seeking a new job in FCS or a related field, be sure to check out the FCS Career Connection, our national job board. We also list openings as we become aware of them, in the state of Illinois, on our ILAFCS Facebook page.
  

If you are a middle school FCS teacher and would like to network with others, please fill out this form. Our president-elect, Monica Hernandez, will be setting up a virtual meeting this spring.

Stay up-to-date on the current FCS job postings by following us on social media. Find us on Facebook @ILAFCS and Twitter @ILAFCS!

Email: illinoisafcs@gmail.com
Website: https://illinoisafcs.wixsite.com/home
Facebook: facebook.com/ilafcs
Twitter: @ILAFCS