FFA Week - State Officers

As an adviser, one of my top 10 proudest moments was having state officers elected.  Having this opportunity to stand at convention and hear their name called is extremely exciting and rewarding. When my first state officer Hilary Bailey (no picture it was pre digital) was elected I missed the whole thing.  She was not elected at state convention and did not have the opportunity to run up on stage. It was one of the only years they elected them at the Spring District Meeting.  I missed her entire state convention because I was on maternity leave.  When Jeremy was elected District 10 President, he ran against Jessica.  That was terrible - there I was waiting in the back to console someone and sneak off to congratulate the other.  The very following year when Jeremy ran for State President and we found out they both made the constitutional ballot I was extremely excited.  The hardest part of the process - is knowing you have worked yourself out of a job.  They leave convention with a busy schedule and maybe time to stop by and visit their Agriculture Teacher a couple times through the year.  Boohooohooo.  The next time you see them is at the following convention, it is almost like they metamorphosis into new people.  They change their look, they make new friends, they become leaders and really seem like they are going to take on the world. Serving as a state officer - an awesome experience.

*Below is the article I wrote for the local paper when Jeremy and Jessica were elected. 

History Making Moment For The Chief Logan FFA

In 1941, Kenneth Isles was elected the State FFA Secretary, becoming Logan’s first State FFA Officer.  Kenneth, the son of Edward Isles, represented nearly 5,000 members that year.  Isles’ Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) projects included potatoes, poultry, corn, wheat and dairy herd records.  Isles also competed in several judging contests, which are now called Career Development Events (CDE’s), including placing third in state public speaking, chairing the parliamentary procedure team, the state champion poultry team and many more. 

Not since 1941 has the Chief Logan FFA chapter had a constitutional officer at the state level.  However, in 2004-2005 Hilary Bailey was elected to the State Officer Team as the District 10 President.  Hilary was 2005 graduate of Logan High School and served as the Chapter President and Reporter.  Hilary was a key member of several teams including chairing the parliamentary procedure team and advancing to state in public speaking.  Jeremy Grove also served as the District 10 President last year before being elected to serve this year as the State FFA President. 

This year Logan is represented by two of the six Constitutional State FFA Officers.  They will be representing over 23,000 FFA members.  Jeremy Grove was elected the State FFA President and Jessica McKinley was elected State FFA Sentinel.  These students, though decades away from Isles have much in common with him. They both have been extremely involved with the chapter, chairing the parliamentary procedure team and being key members on several CDE teams.  Although contests like Potato Judging have been grouped into contests like Agronomy, we do have Envirothon, which they both were a part of, Agricultural Communications, which Jeremy placed 10th in state individually, and Agriculture Sales, which Jessica was on a team placing 6th in the state.  Their SAE is also very similar; they both had market gardens similar to Isles. This program, although very much traditional has evolved and changed with the time to incorporate cutting edge agriculture and technology.  Today, it allows students like Grove and McKinley (since girls were allowed membership in 1969) to gain the same principal life skills that Isles did in 1941.

In order to become a state officer, one must go through a very lengthy process which starts well before the actual interview.  The interview is divided up into six parts.  Grove and McKinley had to take a 100-question test on agriculture, complete a letter writing exercise, draw a random agricultural speech topic and prepare in five minutes to deliver a two minute speech, explain why they wanted to be a state officer through a speech titled “Why I Desire To Be A State FFA Officer.”  After the speeches concluded, the interviews began, including a general interview in an impromptu setting with a panel of judges watching how they would interact with a school administrator, FFA member, or business and industry person.  The panels of judges graded students on rubrics on how well they handled situations, responded to questions, their poise and overall how the judges thought the students would contribute to the Ohio FFA Association. 

To be placed on the constitutional ballot, students needed to be in the top 10 scores.  The ballot was announced during the first session of the State FFA Convention on May 1 and delegates voted.  Delegates included two students from each of the 309 Ohio FFA chapters.  The results were announced on May 2 at the final session of the convention with approximately 6,000 members, parents, and guests present.

The 2009-2010 State FFA Sentinel Jessica McKinley the daughter of Heather McKinley and a senior at Logan High School.  McKinley has been very active in the chapter since her freshman year.  In 2007, she was the state champion in beginning prepared public speaking.  She was 9^th in the state in job interview, junior division.  McKinley served as both the secretary and reporter of the chapter.  McKinley also has represented the chapter as a representative at State FFA Convention, FFA Camp and numerous Leadership Workshops.  Her SAE includes market lambs, market garden and working on her family’s farm.  McKinley will be attending The Ohio State University – Agriculture Technical Institute, majoring in Pre-Agriculture Communications in order to transfer to The Ohio State University to complete her bachelor’s.

The 2009-2010 State FFA President Jeremy Grove, is the son of Michael and Teresa Grove.  He is a 2007 graduate of Logan High School and currently is a sophomore at The Ohio State University where he is majoring in Agricultural Education. His involvement is parallel to Jessica’s with attendance to many of the leadership conferences. He was president of the Chief Logan FFA his senior year and has participated on many judging teams, capturing a state runner-up in both the Envirothon and Environmental Management and Natural Resources. Grove will be taking a year long break from The Ohio State University in his pursuit of becoming a teacher of agriculture, as he will travel all over Ohio this next year facilitating workshops and addressing agriculturalists and FFA members on the importance of agriculture, premier leadership, personal growth, and career success. He will serve as one of Ohio FFA’s ambassadors for agriculture as he leads the 23,000 FFA members into the future of agriculture.