The FCCLA club and Culinary Arts II students at Morgan went on a field trip to Waters Edge on March 14, 2025 to focus on the hospitality and cooking that happens at Waters Edge daily. Located in Westbrook, Connecticut, Water’s Edge has all different types of rooms, ballrooms for weddings, pools, spas, and it is located on the water with great views.
While there, students got a tour of all the hotel rooms, spas, kitchens, and ballrooms. The club also got to walk through the kitchen and cleaning rooms to see what that kind of job is like. Sophomore Bianca Nascimento, who is the vice president of membership of FCCLA, reflected on her field trip to Water’s Edge, “I really enjoyed the field trip because it gave me an insight of how hospitality works, we as tourists don’t think about how much effort goes behind running a hospitality business.”
Senior Alana Zirlis, who is in Culinary arts two, also went on the Field Trip to Water’s Edge, “I found it interesting how Water’s Edge had everything from hotel rooms to condos,” she commented. Throughout the day, the club saw the huge villas that most people stay at for their weddings. Students were informed about how much each room cost per night and how long it takes the cleaning crew to clean these villas. The most expensive villas had a waterfront view and multiple bathrooms and bedrooms. The most expensive villas cost $959 per night. These villas sleep 6 people and has a waterfront view. The villas are isolated and away from the standard hotel and resort.
The Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America, also known as FCCLA, is an organization/club that can be found in states like California, Hawaii, Maine, and many more across America. Two years ago, this program was brought to Morgan.
Consumer and Family Science teacher, Susan Murphy, started the FCCLA club here at Morgan two years ago. Murphy started the club because it’s a national club that gives out scholarships to students, and she thinks this is a good benefit for her students. She also likes that it is a student run club and that the students can make decisions such as running activities or charity events. Morgan also receives a grant of money from the federal government that goes toward the club each year.
The club meets about two times a month, and it also involves several field trips and fundraisers. Field trips help the students in the club have a better understanding of cooking, hospitality, human services, public service, and more.
Fundraisers are designed to give the club money for field trips and any other money they would need. Some fundraisers include bake sales and food drives. The club did a food drive at Big Y in Clinton in November of 2024 to help the community during the holidays. Grant money is also involved in the club, which benefits the members in the club.
Murphy really likes how the students have the opportunity to, in a way, run the club. “The students just kind of take over and make decisions, especially the officers, about what we want to do and don’t want to do,” Murphy said.
Officers are certain roles that students can take on within the club. There are a total of five officer positions in the club. Some of these roles include the president, the vice president, the VP of membership, the VP of public relations, and the VP of community service. This year the president is Nikki Zhou, the vice president is Hannah Sharp, the VP of membership is Bianca Nascimento, the VP of public relations is Libby Burns, and the VP of community service is Maddy Grenon.
The president and vice president influence the club the most. They help Murphy schedule meetings, think of fundraisers, and make sure the club is very organized. The president and vice president send out google forms often to get insight from the other members of the club so that everyone has a say in what is done. Murphy tries her best to make sure the club is mainly student run; the president and vice president help with this by planning important events for the club.
Sophomore Bianca Nascimento has been greatly influenced by the president and vice president, “They constantly make plans on what fun new activity we should try next or what events we should do to help fundraise for our own club or others. Last year we had a successful food drive at our local Big Y in Clinton. We were lucky enough to help out those in need because of our leaders who helped plan this event.”
The Vice President of public relations is also very important to the club. Sophomore Libby Burns is in charge of this job, and it consists of documenting what the club is up to. Burns takes pictures for the club and sends them to the weekly blast. This is very important to the club because it helps build a positive image for the club, and it can persuade other students to join the club. This is Burn’s first time being an officer, “I was surprised at how big FCCLA was. I had thought it was just a club in our school, but after a few meetings, I saw that it is big and all around the country. I decided to apply to be the vice president of public relations to learn more leadership and take on more responsibility.”
Before coming to Morgan, Murphy went to college at Uconn, with an undergraduate degree in clothing and textiles. She then went to Saint Joseph college in West Hartford for her certification for teaching and master’s degree. Before coming to Morgan, seven years ago, Murphy has worked in several different high schools, such as Bacon Academy in Colchester for 17 years, Cromwell for a couple of years, and Lebanon for a couple of years.
Murphy has also taught a variety of classes other than what she teaches now. She has taught a cultural cooking class, a food and fitness class, yoga, sewing classes, clothing construction, and a ECE human development at Uconn. She did not teach all these classes at Morgan, but rather she taught them at different schools around the state. These experiences influence her ability to run the club. “I run a lot of events, and I really believe that students can run things, and they can decide on what they want to run and organize it.” Murphy said. She feels as though she is like a coach or even assistant coach at times when students just take over.
The club is composed of students throughout all grade levels and skills. If students have the desire to one day work in the cooking or hospitality field, this is the club for them. Even if members of the club don’t have a desire to work in these fields, joining the club might change their opinion on certain jobs that they might do in their future. Sophomore Abbie Graham has learned a lot from being in the club, “Being in FCCLA, I have gotten the opportunity to learn a lot about different types of careers and stuff I may want to pursue when I’m older.”
Mrs. Murphy highly recommends this club to all students, no matter their background or what they want to do in the future. Murphy said, “There are so many different types of interests in consumer sciences and a lot of students have those interests, and you don’t necessarily have to take classes with me to be a part of FCCLA.”
There are also so many advantages to joining the club that influence students’ futures. Murphy explained that being a part of this club looks great on college applications and resumes. Even while applying for a job, if students bring up that they are a part of this club it will higher their chances of getting the job. When colleges see that applicants are a part of FCCLA they really like that, and it will help students get into good colleges and colleges of their choice in the future.
Murphy wants students to know that there is always time to join the club and she highly recommended it. For any questions about enrollment or questions in general, you can email her at [email protected].
