Area Officers Attend State Leadership Conference
Thursday, June 15, 2017 | Author: ?Kassie Waller, Texas FFA Intern
Seventy-seven Texas FFA Area Officers attended the 2017 Texas FFA State Leadership Conference [SLC] in hopes to gain leadership development and facilitation training to continue their improvement both personally and professionally.
The event was held June 3-6 in San Antonio, Texas. This provided attendees the unique experience to visit the San Antonio Riverwalk, and utilize the historic Alamo as a learning environment.
For decades, the State Leadership Conference (SLC) was held in more of a “camp” environment. In 2016 the expected content delivery changed to a more professional environment. With the concept still in infancy, the 2016-2017 Texas FFA Officer team faced the challenge of designing an event that held a conference setting. With guiding principles in mind, this year’s officers set out to develop a comprehensive and targeted curriculum.
“The feedback I received told me the students favored the professional environment and the committee work,” said Leadership Development Coordinator, Kelli Neuman. “Students felt empowered to work on committees and felt like their voices were heard directly.”
The conference featured a dynamic lineup of speakers including Texas FFA Executive Director Austin Large, Texas FFA Foundation Executive Director Aaron Alejandro, Past National FFA Officer Nessie Early, ‘AgGrad’ founder Tim Hammerich, and Past Texas FFA Officer Tobin Redwine.
“I learned to celebrate other people's wins, the importance of communication, and that our work is important,” said Riley McKinzie, Area IV Officer and SLC attendee.
The four-day schedule was packed with skills-based workshops, expert panels, and comprehensive periods of instruction demonstrating the latest tools available for development.
“The goal was to make sure attendees had the best experience possible, and would walk away with tangible skills,” said Charlie Hoppe, Texas FFA Vice President and SLC Chair.
Attendees were given tools to reproduce the training received, with the end goal for SLC attendees to facilitate the content at the area, district and chapter levels.
“I am confident students had a great experience and learned essential skills for their year of area office,” said Neuman.
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