Pictured are Shannon Roberts, Chapter Advisor; Allison Skaggs, Chapter Advisor; Thomas Malone, Senior; Natalee Miller, Senior; Claire Miller, Sophomore; Kyson Fox, Sophomore; Reid Anderson, Sophomore; Maddie Stanfield, Sophomore; Ryan Owens, Freshman.
Several Mason County Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) recently visited Capitol Hill in the name of advocacy.
On Nov. 15-19, 2025, seven local FCCLA students traveled with their Chapter Advisors to the FCCLA’s Capitol Leadership Conference in Washington D.C., where, for five days, they joined other youth leaders from across the country for training.
During the conference, students were offered immersive training in advocacy, civic engagement and leadership development.
According to Chapter Advisor Shannon Roberts, the Mason County FCCLA students were invited to the event to learn more about advocacy from members of FCCLA National Staff and former National Officers. She further stated that this conference helps students learn how to advocate for things they believe in.
Mason County FCCLA President Claire Miller stated that she appreciated the opportunity to learn from the National FCCLA Board and other speakers.
“One of the main things we were advocating for was funding for CTE. That comes from the Carl Perkins Fund. CTE stands for Career and Technical Education which, obviously FCCLA falls under that branch, so any organization or class offered in schools that prepares kids for life’s future careers, things like that,” explained Miller. “That funding and advocacy allows us to do things like take trips like Capitol Leadership, our culinary programs, buying food, all of those things. A lot of that comes from that funding. So we were just there advocating for funding and support when that topic may arise when those representatives are in meetings or anything like that.”
Miller explained that, once she realized many people do not know what FCCLA is, she enjoyed educating representatives on who they are and what they strive to do.
“It was really cool. Being at the Capitol is, number one, such an awesome experience for us to be able to experience it at the age we are, and then also get a lot of that real life experience, so speaking to these representatives, learning how to walk through a city, how to navigate subways, that’s one of the coolest things I feel like about this trip in particular because it is such a real life experience,” she expressed.
Sophomore Maddie Stanfield noted that she had been impacted by their visit to the Department of Homeland Security to learn about human trafficking.
“We got to find out a little bit more about it on a national level, which was very cool. We got to speak to a lot of people who knew a lot about it, which was very fun,” said Maddie.
She further stated that they learned that human trafficking does not only happen in big cities and popular areas.
“It’s not just like in very popular areas. It definitely happens here, even here in Maysville. You may not think it happens, but it happens everywhere, especially in backyards, and I think it’s just very important that people recognize that and acknowledge it, even if it’s just small steps towards lowering that number of people being trafficked over here. Definitely just trying to learn more about it and acknowledging it,” Maddie stated.
She then noted that, in an effort to continue advocating, the FCCLA is planning to host a parent night and educational sessions for Mason County students about the dangers of human trafficking and how to advocate for themselves using the Blue Campaign, a resource kit the group received from Homeland Security.
Senior Thomas Malone stated that he had enjoyed the opportunity to travel to the Capitol through the FCCLA Leadership Conference.
“My experience was great for my second year of FCCLA. I got to meet a lot of cool people and do fun stuff,” stated Thomas.
He further expressed that he liked seeing what professionals do at the Capitol.
Seniors Thomas Malone and Natalee Miller; sophomores Claire Miller, Kyson Fox, Reid Anderson and Maddie Stanfield; and freshman Ryan Owens were escorted by Mason County FCCLA Chapter Advisers Shannon Roberts and Allison Skaggs.
Roberts stated that during their visit many of the professionals they had planned to have discussions with were busy with deliberations concerning the Epstein files. She expressed that although things did not go as they had originally planned, she felt the experience was important for the students, explaining that they were still able to meet with several of the professional’s aides.
“We got to actually go into the chambers right after they finished deliberating,” stated Roberts. “They got to actually see that, and that was really cool.”
In addition to their visit to the Capitol, students were also able to attend The African American Museum, the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of American History. Their Capitol tour was given by the staff of Representative James Comer.
According to Roberts, the students brought back change in the form of local awareness campaigns regarding human trafficking and sexual extortion. Members are partnering with the Maysville Police Department, the Buffalo Trace Advocacy Center and Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Claire Estill-McHugh to host a series of informative sessions for middle and high school students, as well as the public.
Roberts stated that they will be hosting a parent night on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at the Mason County High School library from 6-8 p.m. with light refreshments.
