Bridgette Wanzer-McCoy, a member of T.C. Williams High Schools most recent crop of graduates, earned a Gold award at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America National Leadership Conference earlier this month in Nashville, Tenn., making her the first Titan student to take Gold at that level of FCCLA competition.

Competing in the job interview category of the FCCLA National Star Events Competition, Wanzer-McCoy presented a portfolio of her work-related experiences to a panel of judges. The judges examined the quality of the portfolio in addition to the completion of an impromptu application and a comprehensive interview with three panelists.

At T.C., Wanzer-McCoy received several awards in the Family and Consumer Sciences Department, and participated in the Teachers for Tomorrow Program and early childhood education programs. According to the school, she plans to continue her education at Radford University, majoring in elementary education.

More than 5,300 FCCLA members, advisers, alumni and guests attended this years national convention.

Wanzer-McCoy will continue to work with other FCCLA members and advisers in Virginia to encourage others to discover their strengths, motivate members to target career goals and initiate a plan to ignite youth leadership in their community, ACPS said.