When Brandon Weibel started at Silo High School four years ago, he was the shy kid who didn’t want to raise his hand in class and today, he is the national FCCLA president for 2024-2025.
Now described as “a quiet giant” and the “top-dog of dogs,” Weibel was honored during an assembly last week at the gym and local officers were also installed.
Silo High School Principal Jeremy Atwood spoke of the accomplishments of Silo Schools and mentioned teacher Gina Simon, who is the current Bryan County Teacher of the Year. He also mentioned the FFA program and athletics.
“We don’t want to be the best in Bryan County,” Atwood said. “We want to be the best in the state and the best in the nation.”
He said the school’s programs are defi ned by excellence.
“Today, we get to celebrate a young person that’s been a student here for his whole life,” Atwood said. “Today, the Family Career and Community Leaders of America or the FCCLA is our focus. In March 2022, Brandon was elected the Oklahoma state vice president of development. Then, the following March, he invited me to the FCCLA state convention so I could come and witness the things that he did and I got to sit there that day and get to watch him being elected as the state president of FCCLA.
“Well, if you know Brandon, that wasn’t good enough for Brandon. He wanted bigger things and so he ran for national office. So, he is representing you today, not only in Bryan County, not only in the State of Oklahoma, but on the national level. He is the top-dog of dogs. There ain’t nobody higher than him in the nation.”
Weibel then spoke and he said you can hold various different leadership positions within FCCLA.
“I started four years ago right here at Silo,” he said. “I decided to hold a chapter office, so that’s just for our school and from there, I was pushed by my advisor to really reach out and expand my reach. From there, I decided to run for a state office and help the entire State of Oklahoma and so I was elected to serve as the 2023-2024 Oklahoma FCCLA state vice president of development. Then, I went on to serve as state president.
“I served many different roles within FCCLA and from there, Oklahoma, as a delegation, decided to nominate me to run for a national office and I was elected in Seattle this summer.”
He said that as national president, a few of his responsibilities are facilitating every one of the FCCLA’s programs.
“We have a lot of different things that we offer through competitive events, through fundraising and grants that we can give back to schools,” Weibel said. “I really oversee everything, so I’m helping to develop a new strategic plan for our organization where I’m going to go into detail on what we need to work towards for the future. I also serve on the national board of directors. So, this is the governing body of our organization and I am one of the only youth members that have a vote and get to really have a say in what the organization is up to.”
In an interview after the assembly, Weibel was asked if it surprised him to become FCCLA national president.
“Yeah, I remember walking into the classroom four years ago and falling in love with like everything that I saw,” he said. “I just saw a community that was amazing and I never once thought that this where I would be. I was the shy kid in class who couldn’t even raise their hand to talk. So, I never could have imagined this is where I would be, but I thank everyone who saw it in me and I am just super grateful for the opportunity.”
Weibel said that in college, he plans to pursue a degree in political science.
“I’m hoping to go out of state, maybe,” he said. “I want to go to the New York area and really get like indulged in the culture. But, I want to be a lobbyist and really help advocate for different programs that I like.”
Sandy Spavone is the chief executive officer of national FCCLA and she was happy to visit Silo.
“It’s such a great honor and privilege to get to be here in your school,” Spavone said. “This year, Brandon serves as our national president and that means he’s representing almost 245,000 of you across the country. Brandon serves on our board of directors and so he has the same decisionmaking power as adults on that board of directors and he’s a product of your school and this community.
“He brings to that a passion and a vision of what that is and so I ask you to look to that as a vision for yourself. You have that same opportunity to make a difference, whether that’s in your community or in the career that you choose. As most of you know, FCCLA is based on preparing students to explore careers in family consumer sciences programs so that they can go on and go with an option to pursue those areas.”
After the assembly, Spavone said Weibel is doing a great job and that he had to run against many other excellent leaders to be elected to the position.
“I call him a quiet giant,” she said. “He’s a servant leader. He knows the passion of the youth and he’s able to bring that to the table to make sure that they’re represented. It was a pleasure to be here. This school’s amazing, the community is amazing. The passion that the principal has here for excellence for the kids and their future is really outstanding. So, it’s been an honor to be here at your community.”
Oklahoma State Senator David Bullard attended the assembly and he spoke about leadership. He referenced the FCCLA creed which is: “We are the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. We face the future with warm courage and high hope. For we have the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious values. For we are the builders of homes, homes for America’s future, homes where living will be the expression of everything that is good and fair, homes where truth and love and security and faith will be realities, not dreams. We are the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. We face the future with warm courage and high hope.”
Bullard said, “What I see out of FCCLA is the ability to train and teach and raise up leaders that are so desperately needed in our country today.”
The U.S., Bullard said, is the greatest country ever created in human history, not because people stepped back and did things on a status-quo basis, but because the country was built on extraordinary leadership. Bullard spoke about some of the history of the United States.
“There are things within the past of this country that I need you to understand,” Bullard said. “If we do not pass these things down as we move throughout our life, if you do not learn and understand how to become leaders, our country has no hope. But because of what I see in groups like FCCLA, I see a bright future for my country.”
Silo FCCLA officers are: Kyla Callahan, President; Brody Roberts, First Vice President; Raini Metheny, VP of Public Relations; Islee Crow, VP of Community Services; Keleigh Caldwell, VP of Membership; Lisa Gardner, VP of Development, and Keagan Cross, Competitive Events.
