FFA CHAPTERS CELEBRATE
Thursday, February 26th, 2009 -- 11:33 AM
This is National FFA Week and hundreds of FFAers from around the area are celebrating.Both Neillsville and Granton have stand-out FFA chapters.
The Wisconsin FFA Association was founded in 1929 and the organization has changed a lot since the early days. While there is still a strong focus on agriculture, the organization's scope has expanded.
"My leadership skills have increased a lot, and my speaking skills have also increased," says Neillsville FFA President Morgan Gerlach, who says she joined because her brother, a past president, said the group was an important part of his life.
Morgan recently earned a spot in the Sectional Speaking contest in the Job Interview category.
Amy Gerhardt is the FFA advisor in Neillsville. She went to school here, and is excited about the progress the chapter has made in the past five years.
"Two years ago, we set a goal to break the all-time membership record at Neillsville," Gerhardt explains, "In the 1970s, one year, they had 130 members. This year, we're two people away."
While Granton has fewer students, they've never struggled with FFA participation, usually running around 90-percent of the student body.
Hannah Hasz is President of the Granton FFA. She says the organization has helped her in many ways, and allowed to her to travel to different places.
"This last summer I was able to attend the National Leadership Conference in Washington D.C.," Hasz says, "It teaches you how to be a better leader. I met a lot of new people and saw a lot of neat things."
Cheryl Steinbach has been with the district for over 20 years. She says the FFA, and ag education, have changed with the times.
"We have gone from Standard Ag 1, 2, 3 and 4, which included a lot of livestock production and farm management, to now, a lot of new classes, including aquaculture and landscaping," Steinbach says.
And next year, Granton will offer GIS/GPS and Alternative Energy Sources classes, Steinbach says.
Both Gerhardt and Steinbach encourage people to join the FFA Alumni, and, no, you don?t need to have been a member of the FFA to join.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.