Kickin' It Old School

The past week and a half we have been focusing entirely on SOAR.  We are so excited about our upcoming conference.  SOAR stands for Seeking Opportunities, Achieving Results.  It's aimed towards first year FFA members to inform them about what FFA is and the opportunities available to them.  Here's a sneak peak of the conference.

Our theme this year is "Legendary Leadership: Kickin' it Old School." I am stoked about this theme.  The reasoning behind it is that we're taking this conference back to the way they used to be.  We will be having a Parliamentary Procedure contest between all of the groups.  We're also going to have a Quiz Bowl contest that students will compete in individually.  We're hoping that by having these contests, members will be more excited about FFA.  It will definitely be a lot of work for the members.  However, we're hoping they will develop pride for the organization through their work. I cannot wait.

Even though SOAR preparations are still underway, FIRE is going to be approaching before we know it!  I hope everybody is as excited about our upcoming conferences as we are!

Today, I will be heading up to the Kankakee Valley FFA chapter for their auction tonight.  I love seeing how chapter's run their events.  I will be giving a speech while I'm there.  My speech is based around the memories and experiences I have had in FFA.  A majority of my speech consists of the time when I had a Poultry team without Mrs. Markley's 100% approval.  Oops.  FFA members, remember that the experiences or mistakes you have throughout your FFA career may end up turning into a speech

Kicking It Back To The Roots

We've been spending the last week and a half traveling throughout the state of Indiana.  We started out on the west side of the state last week hitting up districts I, IV, VII, and X.  We are now working down the center of the state visiting districts II, V, VIII, and XI.  It has been a blast so far!  It's interesting seeing how different parts of Indiana can be from each other.  For example,  when we were in District X, Ross & I had some extra time on our hands so I wanted to look up the closest McDonald's so I can get some Wi-Fi... I was disappointed to find out that the nearest McDonald's was 30 miles away!  For somebody who craves the city life, I struggled with that fact.  It made me appreciate Warsaw, Indiana a bit more seeing as we have 2 McDonald's - not that I'm a huge McDonald's fan. At all.

As we travel, we visit chapters throughout the day and have District Kick-Offs in the evening.  I LOVE going to chapters!  Our team put together two different visits.  One visit focuses on Self-Awareness. During that visit, we focus on identifying with whom we surround ourselves, understanding the impact we have on others, and applying the positive characteristics we see in role models to ourselves.  The other visit focuses on Goal Setting.  We all set TRAIN goals for ourselves (goals that are Timely, Realistic, Accountable, Important, and Noticeable).  We also include activities that explain obstacles with our goals and the importance of setting small goals to achieve larger goals.

Yesterday, Jake and I visited Warsaw and Wawasee for chapter visits.  It was AMAZING to be back in District II.  It was so good to see my chapter and get to know members from Wawasee.  During the District II Kick-Off, I was on Cloud 9.  The district officers did an awesome job starting out the evening with a dance off (you can never go wrong with quality dance moves) and it just got better from there.  It's always important to remember where your roots are.  FFA members, always remember the advisor(s), members, and other individuals who helped you get to where you are now.