How Seaman High's Rene Cabrera reached top of FCCLA: 'It’s helped me be a better community member'

Sea turtles and FCCLA technically shouldn't have much in common, but Rene Cabrera made it work.

The incoming Seaman High senior for years had been involved with the high school and middle schools' chapters of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, a national organization for budding leaders in family and consumer science classes.

He had joined in eighth grade, especially after hearing about all of the experiences and travel opportunities the organization could afford him.

"But after having been here these past four years, I’ve gotten so much out of it," Cabrera said. "I got that experience of being a Kansas kid who got to travel a little bit, but I also got to develop my leadership skills, and it’s helped me be a better community member."

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But while FCCLA has been a tremendous boon for him, Cabrera realized that historically, the group has seemed out of reach for a lot of students who take family and consumer science classes, which include subjects like child development, family management and culinary science.

"There’s so many people who take (family and consumer science) classes, but they don’t expand on that by joining FCCLA," he said. "That could be for a variety of reasons, like not being able to afford to join or not having the time."

The organization also skews heavily female, with about seven in 10 members being girls.

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Seaman student's speech about sea turtles turned heads

So when FCCLA started the application process for its National Executive Council with a prompt based on how to expand access to more students, Cabrera knew he could apply using a subject he was passionate about.

First he applied and got approval at the state level at an April conference in Wichita, and earlier this month, he gave his speech on "sea turtles" to a national panel at the organization's summer leadership conference in San Diego.

"I put all that in my speech, in a fairly honest and blunt way," he said. "The voting delegates, they understood that and enjoyed that perspective, especially in comparing access to sea turtles."

Late in the week of the conference, Cabrera opened up a letter, telling him he had been chosen to be the National Executive Council's next vice president of programs. In that role, Cabrera will be a leader in the organization's individual recognition and peer education programming efforts.

As a member of the FCCLA National Executive Council, he'll also work with a team of nine other elected students to plan programming and the direction of the national organization.

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Rene Cabrera recruits other students and leads FCCLA into the future

Stacey Jones, the Seaman FCCLA adviser, said Cabrera has shown tremendous growth since she first met him his freshman year.

She said his ability to network shown brightly during his tenure as state FCCLA president this past year, especially in his passion and efforts to expand access to the organization for students of color.

"He reaches out to people all the time," Jones said. "He's just so excited to be involved and help lead FCCLA into the future."

"It’s put me in uncomfortable situations, but ones I could learn from," Cabrera said. "I could go back to my eighth-grade year, when just presenting my projects was nerve-wracking. But now, just a month ago, I got to present in front of 7,000 people on a stage in San Diego. That was still scary for me, but it’s something I never would have thought could be possible without FCCLA."

He'll next travel to the organization's headquarters in Virginia for a planning meeting, as well as the national fall conference in Columbus, Ohio. In January, he'll work with the group in Denver to plan next summer's leadership conference at that city.

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Seaman student also active in Boys and Girls Club of Topeka, Viking Crew

Ahead of his senior year, Cabrera plans to keep busy, working right now with the Boys and Girls Club of Topeka. Beside FCCLA, Cabrera has been a school leader through Seaman High's student council and Viking Crew, as well as through the Topeka Youth Commission.

He's not yet sure what he'll do after graduation, with options including staying Topeka or going elsewhere to pursue a career in public administration or education, perhaps as a family and consumer science teacher.

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Much of it will depend on where he's accepted, as well as how much financial assistance he can find.

"But thankfully," Cabrera said, "FCCLA has prepared me to showcase myself as a leader, showcase myself as a student and not be scared to reach toward new horizons."

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Seaman High senior Rene Cabrera voted national FCCLA officer