Tuesday, March 17, 2026
After earning back-to-back national first-place titles in FCCLA competitions, Mosinee High School junior Sophia Knetter embraced the organization’s emphasis on leadership and community service for her newest project, choosing to make an impact closer to home by helping other students pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
Knetter joined the Mosinee High School FCCLA organization as a freshman and now serves as chapter president. With a longtime passion for entrepreneurship, selecting her first competition category was easy. She entered the Entrepreneurship category with a business plan for a hypothetical product—“Twist-Off”—a stainless steel water bottle with a removable storage compartment. The idea earned her first place at nationals in Seattle, Washington.
The following year, Knetter competed in the Career Investigation category, choosing to explore entrepreneurship as a profession. The project gave her the opportunity to dive deeper into the career field and do some job shadowing. Her work once again earned her first place at the national competition, this time in Orlando, Florida.
“This year, for competition, I knew I wanted to do something a little more hands-on in my community, rather than just focusing on myself,” said Knetter.
After reviewing the competition categories, she selected Public Policy Advocate, which tasks participants with identifying an area of need related to Family and Consumer Sciences and develop an action plan to address it. Knetter chose to tackle the topic of a lack of funding support for entrepreneurship education among youth.
Her project contains multiple components, but the centerpiece was organizing a Youth Emerging Entrepreneurs Day—an opportunity she said she wishes had existed when she was younger. In the absence of such a program, she decided to create one herself.
Last month, Knetter hosted the event at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. To create a day filled with valuable hands-on learning and networking opportunities, she secured speakers, local business owners, and organizations—including the UWSP Small Business Development Center and the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation. She also worked with local business sponsors to raise funds for scholarships, which were awarded to selected attendees to help launch their own entrepreneurial ideas. Knetter marketed the event to students in grades 8-12 across the state.
The event exceeded her expectations, drawing more than 80 participants.
For Knetter, the event is about more than her FCCLA project. It reflects a passion she has had since a young age to support her community—an interest that ultimately led her to entrepreneurship.
"I feel like I've always been passionate about finding where I can make a change in my community and entrepreneurship provides that hands-on experience and ability to do it,” she said.
Knetter also participated in last month’s Wisconsin FCCLA Capitol Leadership Conference, supported by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. There, she advocated directly to legislators for increased funding to support youth-run businesses.
For more information on FCCLA in Wisconsin, visit the DPI’s website.