Hartem FFA hosts section officer and greenhand leadership training

[September 21, 2012]  HARTSBURG -- On Wednesday, Hartsburg-Emden High School was the setting for the Illinois Future Farmers of America, Section 14 Leadership Training School. Section 14 is one of 25 FFA sections in Illinois and is represented by high schools in New Berlin, Athens, Williamsville, A-C Central, Mount Pulaski, Greenview, Lincoln and Pleasant Plains as well as Hartsburg-Emden.

FFA is a high school organization that focuses on agriculture and the life opportunities that arise from participation and leadership in this area. The FFA has been recognized as one of the top organizations in the country for awarding college scholarships.

Hartsburg-Emden High School Principal Terry Wisniewski welcomed more than 100 FFA members for the evening of leadership workshops.

Cole Baker, Section 14 president, and the Section 14 officer team began the training with a fun session on proper FFA dress. Baker is also president of the Hartem FFA.

Participating in the workshops were current Section 14 chapter officers as well as greenhands, those students who have joined FFA for the first time.

After a meal in the cafeteria, the two groups split up, and three students from the University of Illinois Agriculture College conducted training for the current officers.

The workshop for the greenhands was conducted by the Illinois FFA president, Darren Riskedal from Leeland, and Dalton Heavner from Pittsfield, vice president.

Riskedal and Heavner are recent high school graduates who are making a one-year full-time commitment to the FFA before entering college. Riskedal will attend the University of Illinois, and Heavner will attend Lincoln Land Community College and Oklahoma State University.

Riskedal and Heavner are traveling around the state during their terms in office to visit the 25 Illinois FFA sections during the year. The state FFA office is in Springfield.

Riskedal gave the keynote address to conclude the evening. He stressed the leadership values of cooperation, communication, responsibility and trust, all hallmarks of the FFA community that are integral to FFA members throughout their lives, whether they continue with an agricultural profession or chose another.

[By CURT FOX]