Spencer contingent has busy week at National FFA Convention
By Hailey Rucker & Theresa Knecht, Spencer FFA Thirteen Spencer FFA Chapter members traveled to Indianapolis, Ind., to the FFA National Convention on Oct. 25-30, 2021. They did many things while they were there.
As soon as they were in Indiana, the group took a small detour to the Albanese candy store and factory. There we had the opportunity to see how the amazing gummy candies were made and of course got to buy candy treats. The next day, they took a tour to Tuttle Orchard. They learned agro tourism and apple and bee production. Later in the day, they took a trip to Ozark Fish Farm and learned about breeding, production, and sales in koi and goldfish. We ended the day back in Indy with a visit to the Indianapolis 500 Speedway. They got to take a lap on the track, kiss the bricks, and got to see the Speedway Museum.
On the first day of the convention activities, Wednesday, we were able to serve on the National FFA Courtesy Corps. Our shift was in the FFA mega store. As a member, they worked at the cash registers, bagging the merchandise people bought. This was a huge honor.
During the week of convention, we were able to visit the National FFA Convention Expo which included agricultural companies, FFA sponsors, colleges, and suppliers. It really showed how diverse agriculture is. It also gives us as students to look to these companies as future employers. The most enjoyable part, though, were the sessions the National FFA Officers conducted. During these sessions, the team talked about different ways to show leadership, how to impact the world around you in a positive way, and what being in the FFA really means through their retiring addresses.
The Spencer FFA Chapter also had another exciting thing to celebrate! Cortney Zimmerman was elected to be the National FFA Central Region Vice President. Cortney is from the Spencer FFA Chapter, and is only the eighth person from Wisconsin to be elected to National FFA Office. The last one was 10 years ago. Everyone was so proud of her! It was so exciting to hear, “your Central Region National Vice President from the State of Wisconsin, Cortney Zimmerman!”
During the time between sessions we had a chance to expand our horizons and got to have more agricultural experiences. One of them was workshops. The workshops were an hour and a half of lessons about different agriculture activities. They were very interesting and it was fun to learn a lot of new things about how I can be a leader. Another thing we did was going around and learning about different colleges and what they have to offer for our futures.
The convention was a really good experience. We all had an amazing time, and it was a real eye opener. We got to see how we could contribute to our community more by seeing what others have done. We hope to go back next year and get to have more opportunities to grow in our FFA chapter.
