Jessica Vanstory and Meredith Hess present their STAR project to underclassmen in the WHS library. “It was cool. I liked the way they talked to us as a group,” junior Jessica Hedges said. Photo by Emma Alderman.

Vanstoy and Hess qualify for nationals with presentation

Seniors Jessica Vanstory and Meredith Hess took on a project to spread public awareness of vaping.

To spread the awareness, Vanstory and Hess entered in the Illustrated Talk for their FCCLA STAR Event. Illustrated talk is a competitive event that includes an oral presentation for issues that concern the community. Vanstory and Hess said that their idea started when the vaping drama happened at the school.

“I think the topic is very timely because it’s important for teens to know the effect of e-cigarettes on their body,” FCCLA adviser Diane Breiner said.

Illustrated talk includes researching a project and then creating a visual. For the research, Vanstory and Hess compared the Kansas statistics of high school students to WHS students through an anonymous survey.

“I liked doing the survey because it was interesting to find out the stats of our school,” Vanstory said.

The competition requires a presentation to the targeted audience at least three times. Vanstory and Hess presented to FCS and English classes and were later asked to present to all WHS students by principal Jan Hutley.

“I think it was a timely and relevant topic for all students in the junior high and high school and the importance was definitely highlighted in the harmful, chronic effects of electronic cigarette use,” Hutley said.

Vanstory and Hess said they enjoyed this STAR Event because it was simpler and got to use their creative skills.

“I liked making the board because we got to be creative since nothing was actually required on the visual,” Hess said.

Hess and Vanstory took their project to state FCCLA this week, earning gold. They will compete at nationals in Anaheim this summer.

— Kaytlyn Meseke, @Kaytlyn_nelle