Local FFA members attend leadership conferences

by FFA reporters Kelly Critten and Kelsey McLaughlin

Members from the Gallatin FFA Chapter recently attended the Missouri FFA Association’s Leadership Adventure in Columbia. It was held July 31 at the University of Missouri.

Agricultural careers, leadership development, and positive role models were the focus of this conference. The University of Missouri was one of two locations for this conference; the other was Springfield. Nearly 400 members and advisors registered for the two conferences from 57 chapters across Missouri. Over 5,000 Missouri FFA members have attended The Leadership Adventure since its beginning in 1990.

The leadership training sessions were conducted for two groups: High School Freshmen and Sophomores exploring development of their leadership potential, and Junior and Senior students seeking to maximize their leadership skills.

Attending the conference from the local FFA chapter were: Megan Chadwick, Lee Deutschman, Maggie Strange, Shelby Chadwick, Hunter Prentice, Breanne Brammer, Danielle Ness, and Len Deutschman. Also attending the conference was Advisors Wes Strange and Chris Henderson.

This summer the Gallatin FFA Chapter sent four senior members to Washington D.C. for a leadership conference. Kelly Critten, Kelsey McLaughlin, Kyle Croy and Derrick Sprague attended the Washington Leadership Conference for a week.

At this conference the students were divided into groups with people who were not in their chapter. This was a great way for them to meet new people and create new friends. The sessions were about making a difference. They had three sessions a day for five days. The sessions taught the members new ways to notice a problem and steps to help or solve it. The main theme of the conference was "We Do Because We Can."

Some of the sights the students saw during the trip were the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Veteran Memorial, Jefferson Monument, Washington Monument, WWII Monument and the Congress building.

The four students took part in a community service project where they went out to a local farm and picked kale and collard greens. They picked over 10,000 pounds and sent it to the local food pantries.