FFA District Leadership Conference hosted by Chinook High
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Steve Edwards
An FFA member dashes toward a goal during a recent district leadership conference hosted by Chinook High. Thirteen chapters sent representatives to the half-day training presented by student state leaders. These younger FFA members were involved in a team building exercise in the school gym.
Thirteen Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters sent representatives to the Judith Basin district leadership conference held last week in Chinook. Each fall the Montana student FFA officers and advisors take the half-day leadership training program to the eight FFA districts that make up the state organization. CHS's FFA advisor, Robin Allen, said all but one of the district chapters attended the conference.
Students were divided into two groups, one for the upper classmen and another for new FFA members attending their first regional event. The older students, seasoned leaders in FFA, spent time refining strategies and approaches for promoting agriculture at the national, state and chapter level. One recurring theme was the importance of using social media to share the story of agriculture and promote local chapter activities. A show of hands indicated that about three-fourths of the FFA chapters at the conference already had Facebook pages to keep members and stakeholders apprised of news and activities.
Steve Edwards
Thirteen FFA chapters, from the Judith Basin district, sent representatives to Chinook High for the annual district leadership conference. These upper level students were learning ways to promote agriculture and the activities of their own chapters. The football was thrown to the person making a comment or asking a question, who would then throw it to the next commentator or questioner.
The younger students, meeting in the gym, spent a lot of time getting to know students from the various chapters and doing team building activities. Working in a team setting is a major focus of FFA and there were lots of races and relays to get the students up and moving around.
While the student-led sessions were going on the advisors from the various chapters were having their own session. Advisors were reviewing the requirements to assure their FFA chapter was official and performing to a standard. There was also a lot of information shared about various award programs sponsored by FFA as well as upcoming state and national events that would be of interest to students in the local chapters.
It's always uplifting to see all those eager youngsters learning new skills that will be useful to them in the future. And it's especially thrilling to see all those blue denim FFA jackets, one of those icons familiar to any student who ever went to a rural high school. Even though I wasn't in FFA as a student, I recall seeing those blue jackets at every high school event. Good to know that despite social media's ascendancy, some things from high school fifty years ago still endure.
