On Dec. 1, the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) of Central Hardin met with Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory to receive sponsorship of an official proclamation to recognize Dec. 3 as Family and Consumer Sciences Day.

The broad pathway of Family and Consumer Sciences(FCS), formerly known as Home Economics, exists in some form in all 50 states. Currently, in Hardin County, there are programs at all three high schools, in addition to EC3, helping make up the 21,000 students currently enrolled in a FCS program across the state of KY. At Central Hardin in particular, there are approximately 975 students enrolled in the pathway. The point being, FCS is prevalent and only growing in popularity across the nation.

Within the organization’s endeavors, the 32 members of Central’s FCCLA drafted and wrote to Mayor Gregory back in October, seeking his support of making FCS Day official in E-town. The date of Dec. 3 was chosen to celebrate the founder of FCCLA, Mrs. Ellen Swallow Richards, who was the first woman admitted into Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1873.

“We will be celebrating this special day by encouraging families to at home, dine-in, or share a meal at the table together, and celebrate with the ones you love,” senior Vice President of Public Relations Irelynd Weedman explained.

Mayor Gregory was in attendance at the Dec. 1 FCCLA meeting, and agreed to sign off on the official proclamation. The all-female group watched with eager eyes and open hearts as a local leader recognized their hard work and dream into a town-wide reality.