Syracuse, NY August 29, 2017
On August 26, 2017 students came into the Empire room at the Great New York State Fair, not knowing what to expect out of the next 24 hours during this brand-new conference. Students worked through multiple activities throughout the weekend to not only better themselves, but also develop skills to help improve their chapters’ program of activities. With the hope of coming out of this conference being more prepared for their year ahead. Taylor Rollins, District Five President, says “I was super excited that it wasn’t like any ordinary conference and that we were going to interact with so many different people.”
Throughout the entire conference, members were encouraged to network with other chapters. Icebreakers and other social activities allowed members to learn and really get to know the people they would be working with. One highlight from the conference was the opportunity for participants to interact with the National FFA President, David Townsend! David joined us for 6 days at the fair and was given the opportunity to see NY FFA members in action as they not only participated in AIM but also competed in multiple career development events.
While developing their chapter’s program of activities, FFA members had to develop a new activity that would promote and educate the public about agriculture. After developing their activity, each chapter was then sent out into the fair to implement it. Three judges, David Townsend the National FFA President, Christina Layne a representative from New York State Ag and Markets, and Eileen Jenson from the New York Animal Coalition were sent out to evaluate and rank each of the activities. The chapter that received the highest score received a $500 grant to help implement their program of activities for the coming year. This year’s grant winner was the Southern Cayuga FFA chapter for how well they educated the public about bees! We received such positive feedback and many chapters look forward to coming back next year!
FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career successful through agriculture education. For more information regarding FFA please visit either www.nysffa.org or www.ffa.org.
Respectfully Submitted by,
Kimberly Doyle
NY FFA State Reporter, 2017-2018