On February 20 at 6 pm, FCCLA families gathered in the JP Stevens cafeteria for the first annual Family Dinner and Recognition night. This night was a great success, with a lesson in family dynamics by a speaker from NJ4S, an Italian-style buffet dinner, and to top it off, a recognition of FCCLA competitive members. 

The major focus of the dinner itself was on the core principles of a family, specifically strengthening the family bond and learning effective communication. Juniors Hitha Srinivas, Daya Karakkatt, and Zahra Merchant began the dinner with a small icebreaker to introduce the topic of families. This icebreaker allowed different families to discuss their family traditions or something that they loved about their family in general. After this, Ruby Sekhon from the NJ4S Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care program discussed the specifics of the steps each member can take to have a successful family relationship. She focused on effective communication in particular, with an emphasis on active listening and establishing harmony through one’s dialogue. 

Families were able to put the new skills that they learned into practice during the dinner. Members of the JPS FCCLA chapter had worked together to make an Italian dinner for the attendees with food consisting of garlic bread and baked ziti. For dessert, brownies and cookies were made, as well as the chapter’s famous strawberry punch. Whilst guests ate dinner, they engaged in a role-playing game in which they could understand the importance of the different roles in a family, including organizer, listener, communicator, and mediator. Each person in the family was to choose the role that they felt fit them best in the family setting and then use that role to address various scenarios that might occur in the life of a family, such as a dispute over where to go for vacation. The role-playing game was a reminder of how, by working together, families can navigate our difficulties with ease and strengthen their family bond in the process. 

To wrap up the conversation on families, Hitha, Daya, and Zahra displayed a set of clips from the well-known movie Yes Day, in which a family hears about the idea of a “Yes Day,” one day during which parents agree to everything their children ask for, thinking it would be effective in strengthening their family bond. However, the consequences of this are paramount. This movie is used to show the importance of coming to a compromise over simply saying yes and no to children. This was an exceptional way in which to demonstrate this key concept and overall, emphasizes communication in families. 

“I feel that I finally understand how beneficial unity within the family is,” said sophomore Shridhar Garg, reflecting on this part of the night with a sense of appreciation. “The night inspired me to work on improving my communication and active listening skills with my loved ones.”

To end off the night was a recognition of those who competed in the Fall Leadership Conference in November 2023. Students that competed all placed with either gold, silver, or bronze medals. Families were given the chance to applaud and celebrate their children’s hard work during this competition.

One parent attendee expressed how impactful the presentation was for her and her family: “For me, the takeaway was spending more time as a family at the dinner table, and having conversations about how everyone’s day went and what things are coming up during the week that they are either looking forward to or dreading.”

Overall, the night was an inspiration to all the families and students that attended, giving them the motivation to strive for the ideal family bond.