ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

This summer, one area youth brought home some hardware from a national convention.

Sublette High School junior Trelawney Horinek recently placed first in the Level 2 Construction STAR Event during the 2026 FCCLA National Leadership Convention in Washington D.C.

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a national Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) for students in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) education.

For her entry in the STAR event, Horinek constructed a three-piece Renaissance-themed outfit and gave an oral presentation over how she made it, a marketing plan and the fabrics used.

Prior being named the winner, Horinek said she went through many sessions as she learned about leadership and working with a team.

“It was really nice to meet new people,” she said. “We also did this exercise where we had to trade enamel pens. It was really great to meet new people and get to know people from different states as well and hear all their different backgrounds.”

Horinek said each enamel pen came with its own unique story.

“There were some from Idaho, where they have potatoes, or Kentucky, where they have a chicken leg,” she said. “It was really interesting to find out about all that different stuff.”

As the winners of the convention were being announced, Horinek said her stress levels became higher because she did not know where she would place.

“There were all these amazing different projects,” she said. “The adrenaline of it all is really what gets to you. It makes it really fun because you get to see all of the other people’s projects, as well as show off your own. You get to learn new things you maybe didn’t know about what you were doing or other topics. I saw this one project where the artist had created a full dress ensemble purely out of soda tabs. It was really interesting.”

Horinek estimated there were about 40 delegates from each state in her category, but this is after contestants went through district and regional competitions.

“That’s the only people who qualified for nationals,” she said.

Horinek said she did not find out she had won until she was on stage waiting with her fellow contestants to hear the results, and she was naturally immediately excited.

“You hear your name being called for first place, and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I did that,’” she said. “When I stepped off the stage, I honestly teared up a little. It was a relief to know my project was the best it could be.”

It has been a little more than two months since Horinek placed first in the FCCLA convention, and while she said life has been a whirlwind for the most part, she has now accepted she won.

“I think it’s great, and hearing all the compliments from the people who’ve heard I won is also really gratifying,” she said.

To qualify for the competition, students had to be in FCCLA and FCS classes at school, and Horinek said entries were rated on a scale of 1 to 100.

“If you get above a 90, you get a gold medal,” she said. “If you get an 80, you get a silver, and if you get a 70, you get a bronze. For district, I was the only person to score above a 90 and get a gold medal out of any category there. For state, I actually got second in my category, but I did get a gold. At nationals, I got a gold.”

Horinek said she felt her presentation stood out to judges because it was either more detailed or bigger than others at the convention.

“It might’ve just made me stand out more,” she said. “I also think my presentation style was to the standards they were looking for.”

Horinek said placing at the top of the national convention was a great honor.

“Honestly, I’m at a loss of words,” she said. “I’m really grateful to the people who helped me receive this award, and I also proud of myself because I was able to do such a great thing.”

Horinek is one of the first people from Sublette to win on a national level, and she said it is a big accomplishment for all of Southwest Kansas.

“It really puts a good name for Sublette and for our school,” she said.

Horinek said being one of the first people from the Sublette community to win on a national level felt amazing.

“It’s astonishing someone like me could get myself out there and win such a big award,” she said. “I’m proud of myself, and I’m proud of everyone who was included in it.”

Horinek said placing first at the national convention made her summer vacation extra special.

“It was great,” she said. “I didn’t spend a lot of time at home. I had things like national FCCLA, but I also had different things for 4-H. I rarely found myself at home because I was busy.”

The Sublette community, Horinek said, has been great after the news reached the Haskell County town.

“Anytime somebody hears about it, they come up to me, and they tell me, ‘Wow, I’m really proud of you,’” she said. “They have been really accepting and welcoming.”

This year’s FCCLA convention took place shortly after the Fourth of July, which this year celebrated the landmark 250th birthday of America, and Horinek said this added to the greatness of her participation in the event.

“We didn’t get the opportunity to go on the Fourth, but there were still a bunch of celebrations going on,” she said. “We got to tour the capitol. That was really interesting to see. We did a bunch of other things. We went on a cruise. We went to some different museums as well and learned a lot of different things.”

Likewise, Horinek got to do a lot of things with her mother, Charity Horinek, and her sponsor, and adding to the Southwest Kansas representation in the nation’s capital, that group was joined by a student and sponsor from neighboring Satanta.

“We got to go around D.C. and do a bunch of things,” Trelawney said.

Once Trelawney graduates from high school, she plans to attend Seward County Community College before transferring to K-State and major in architecture.

“After that, I hope to get a job and build a life for myself,” she said.

In FCCLA, Trelawney said she has learned how to work with other people, which she said is important to her future.

“I’m going to meet several new people in the future, and it’s real important to know how to deal with new people and how to work with people of different background,” she said. “I think it’s amazing how FCCLA is really helping me do that.”