District News

The Marcellus Central School District FCCLA Chapter is incredibly proud of our students who represented our school, community, and New York State at the 2026 FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. during the celebration of America's 250th anniversary!

This year, 15 Marcellus FCCLA members attended the conference. Fourteen students earned the opportunity to compete after placing in the Top 2 in New York State, qualifying them to compete against the very best FCCLA members from across the country. In addition, Maddie Carver and Charlotte Stasik attended as New York State FCCLA State Officers, providing exceptional leadership while proudly representing both New York State and Marcellus throughout the week.

New York State had an outstanding conference, with 12 students earning Top 10 finishes in the nation, and an incredible 8 of those students were from Marcellus!

Top 10 National Finishers

🥇 National Champions (1st Place)
Ava Lockwood & Olivia Colman – Interior Design, Level 1

🥇 2nd Place Nationally
Nellie Humiston – Chapter in Review Portfolio, Level 2

🥇 Gold Medalists
• Arianna Kudlick & Etta Davidheiser – Interior Design, Level 1
• Matty Hall – Career Investigation, Level 1

🥈 Silver Medalists
• Josh Borst – Personal Finance, Level 1
• Izzy Bishop – Chapter Service Portfolio, Level 1

Additional National Medalists

🥇 Sophia Lockwood – Entrepreneurship, Level 2
🥇 Sonia Davidheiser & Adie Kinsley – Repurpose and Redesign, Level 3
🥈 Sophie Smorol – Apparel Construction, Level 1
🥈 Claire Kenney – Entrepreneurship, Level 1
🥈 Charlotte Stasik – Chapter Service Portfolio, Level 2

A special congratulations to Adie Kinsley and Sonia Davidheiser, whose Repurpose and Redesign project was selected from hundreds of entries nationwide as one of only 40 projects featured in the FCCLA National Fashion Show, an incredible honor recognizing their creativity, craftsmanship, and innovation.

We also want to recognize Charlotte Stasik and Maddie Carver for their outstanding service as New York State FCCLA State Officers. Their leadership, professionalism, and dedication were evident throughout the conference, and they represented our school and state with excellence.

In addition to student success, Elizabeth Milliken was honored on the national stage as the recipient of the FCCLA Spirit of Advising Award, recognizing her dedication, leadership, and commitment to supporting FCCLA members.

Beyond competition, our students explored our nation's capital and created memories that will last a lifetime. Highlights included a boat cruise on the Potomac River, a Washington Nationals baseball game, visits to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Ford's Theatre, the U.S. Botanic Garden, the monuments and memorials, and participating in the FCCLA Rally on Capitol Hill.

These accomplishments reflect months of hard work, determination, and perseverance. We are incredibly proud of every student who represented Marcellus Central School District with professionalism, confidence, leadership, and integrity.

Please join us in congratulating these outstanding students and celebrating another remarkable year for Marcellus FCCLA!

 

The Marcellus Central School District welcomed educators from across the region for a hands-on professional learning workshop as part of the New York State Master Teachers Program. The session took place at the district’s Career Exploration and Agricultural Sciences Center, highlighting innovative ways to integrate agriculture into classrooms.

The workshop provided participants with an in-depth look at Marcellus’s state-of-the-art Ag Center, located at 2 Mustang Hill, and created space for collaboration, idea-sharing and cross-disciplinary learning.

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for New York State Master Teachers to tour our facility and provide a space to learn from each other,” said Jennifer Stratton, Science and Agriculture Teacher at Marcellus High School. “Our goal was to share opportunities and resources to bring Ag into any classroom at any scale.”

Participants rotated through three interactive learning stations designed to showcase different aspects of the district’s agriculture program.

Wood Shop & Milling Station: Educators toured the wood shop and kiln while exploring how math and science concepts are embedded into hands-on learning. Led by teacher Joe Killian, the session included demonstrations of real-world applications and an opportunity for participants to mill lumber using a WoodMizer horizontal bandsaw.

Sugar House Station: In the sugar house, Jennifer Stratton guided participants through a scavenger hunt activity aligned with New York State Science Learning Standards Cross-Cutting Concepts. The experience also included a maple taste test, connecting scientific principles with agricultural production.

Greenhouse Station: Participants toured the greenhouse facility, where Teacher Caitlin Eaton shared how the Marcellus agriculture program fosters collaboration across grade levels and engages community partners to enhance student learning.

Students of the district’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) club were on hand throughout the evening, helping facilitate activities and offering valuable student perspectives on the program.

Marcellus Central School District offers a comprehensive Agriculture Education program beginning in grades 7 and 8 within technology classes. At the high school level, students can explore a wide range of electives, including Sustainability Science, Building Trades, Small Engines, Basic Cooking, Career and Financial Management, Welding, Carpentry and Fine Woodworking and a capstone Project Management course.

FFA serves as a co-curricular extension of the program, focusing on leadership development and career readiness. Students who complete a sequence of agriculture and technical courses may earn a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Technical Endorsement, demonstrating mastery of industry-relevant skills.

Marcellus FCCLA recently attended the State Leadership Conference held at the Villa Roma Resort with an outstanding group of 24 student competitors.

Marcellus students demonstrated incredible dedication, creativity and professionalism, and their hard work paid off. We are proud to announce that Marcellus FCCLA brought home 18 Gold Medals and 6 Silver Medals. Even more impressively, 15 students placed in the top two of their event, qualifying them to advance to the National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. 

"This was truly an outstanding showing for Marcellus FCCLA," said advisors Liz Milliken and Dianna Joslyn. "We are incredibly proud of all our students for their hard work, leadership and commitment."

In addition to their competitive success, two Marcellus students, Adie Kinsley and Maddie Carver, had the honor of singing the national anthem, showcasing their talents beyond competition. Advisors are also proud to celebrate Liz Milliken, who was recognized with the prestigious Spirit of Advising Award. As a chapter, Marcellus FCCLA was further recognized for its outstanding achievements in Families First, Community Service, FACTS (Families Acting for Community Traffic Safety) and the Pink Out NYS FCCLA Outreach Project.

Marcellus High School hosted guest speaker Marianne Angelillo, who shared her powerful personal story to educate students about the devastating consequences of drunk driving.

Angelillo’s message stems from an unimaginable loss. In 2004, her seventeen-year-old son, Matthew, was killed as a passenger in a high-speed drunk-driving crash in Skaneateles.

Angelillo describes speaking about her loss as “sharing her stones” — a way of carrying the heavy grief she has lived with since that day. The phrase later became the title of the book she wrote about her journey. By sharing her story, Angelillo hopes to both lighten her own burden and prevent other families from experiencing a similar tragedy.

Matthew Angelillo was a student at Skaneateles High School, where he was an honor student and varsity athlete. He hoped to attend the United States Air Force Academy and had already received strong praise for his potential. Outside of school, Matthew enjoyed snowboarding, hunting and fishing, and spending weekends at the family camp. His mother remembers him as a natural leader — intelligent, dedicated and humorous.

Accepting a ride to a party by an intoxicated friend led to devastation for the Angelillo family.

In the years since, Marianne has dedicated her life to educating others about the dangers of impaired driving. For more than two decades, Angelillo has traveled across the country sharing Matthew’s story, serving as an advocate and speaker with the National Safety Council and the New York Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.

“A worse thing than death is to feel purposeless and hopeless after it,” Angelillo told Marcellus High School students.

Through her message, she encourages young people to think carefully about the choices they make and the lasting consequences a single decision can have. She also spoke about the importance of forgiveness, vulnerability and connection, leaving students with a simple but powerful reminder: “When you drink, you don’t think.”

At the conclusion of the presentation, Angelillo spent time speaking one-on-one with students — including Matthew’s niece, who now attends Marcellus High School — continuing the work she set out to do by sharing her stones and ensuring Matthew’s story continues to make a difference.