JULIE MOEN / Special to the PVT Beatty students did well in Florida recently. The FCCLA teams are, standing from left, Elizabeth Moen, Tony Dare, Josh Dunsterville, Lenzy Williams and Amanda Revert. Seated from left are Darian Venezio, Danielle Henderson, Heather Dunsterville and Denise Rafferty. Advertisement

BEATTY -- A group of Beatty High School students did not wait for the upcoming Olympic Games in China to bring home the gold.

They got theirs in Orlando, Fla.

Nine BHS students attended the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America National Leadership Meeting this summer. In the STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) competition, teams were judged against a scoring class to earn gold, silver or bronze medals.

The Parliamentary Team, consisting of Tony Dare, Josh and Heather Dunsterville, Danielle Henderson, Denise Rafferty, Darian Venezio and Lenzy Williams, was the only team from Nevada to earn the gold medal.

Amanda Revert and Elizabeth Moen represented the school in the Chapter Showcase competition and received a silver medal.

The students raised more than $17,000 to help fund their participation in the nationals. It was a huge event, with over 5,000 attendees representing the organization's nearly 7,000 chapters.

Sponsor Julie Moen said the national meeting was "valuable beyond anything I could have hoped for these students ... This group really bonded. They loved being part of the Nevada delegation."

She said they became good friends with the students from Carlin and want to adopt it as a "sister" chapter.

Josh Dunsterville, president of the Parliamentary Procedure Team, remembered "waiting in line at the awards ceremony. The announcer started with bronze. Our school wasn't called. Then he went to silver. Once again our school wasn't called.

"Finally he called our team under the gold category. We ran up to receive our medals. This was so amazing, and we were all very excited for our achievement."

Josh's sister Heather has a fond memory of when all of the Nevada participants "got together in one room to discuss the week and events."

She said that after taking care of business, the group played games and interacted. "I made a bunch of friends."

The students raved about the keynote speaker, Judson Laipply, whose "Evolution of Dance" routine is a "viral" hit on You Tube. Darian Venezio said, "He made us laugh and think."

Elizabeth Moen enjoyed the "feeling like I was part of something huge. I felt so lucky to get the chance to go."

Tony Dare expressed similar feelings about the gala at the end of the conference. "It was the biggest party I have ever been to. Everywhere I turned I was surrounded by fellow FCCLA members."

Darian Venezio said the gala was "so much better than I thought it was going to be. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my new friends and my chapter and dancing."

All the students laughed about the day Julie Moen decided the group would walk to a restaurant about five minutes away. Coming from Nevada, they were unprepared for a Florida downpour. They were drenched within a couple of minutes. They tracked water into one restaurant, then changed their minds and went to another where the help mopped up after them.

The chapter at Beatty High School is very active and, obviously, successful.