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 FFA
Section 14 covers Logan County, Sangamon County, Menard County and
part of Cass County. The five FFA sections are split into five
Illinois districts.
Morrow said at the FFA section banquet, once she was chosen to be
section president, she had to give a speech and fill out a form with
her name and other information.
Morrow’s role as Section 14 President really started out at the FFA
State convention, where she was sworn in then had training on what
she would be doing in this role. Soon, Morrow had to prepare for
summer activities.
The role of president requires Morrow to travel with the FFA state
team and attend monthly state officer meetings. There are five major
officers and the 25 section presidents. She is also in charge of a
Group Leadership Congress and has helped with the FFA policy book.
At the meetings, they discuss topics like public speaking, how to
control a team and how to conduct a workshop. Morrow said it is also
important to keep up on agricultural issues.
Meetings Morrow has attended include a time to
debrief, do reflections and have some kind of training.
Since Morrow began serving as Illinois FFA section president, she
has participated in various agriculture related activities every
month.
In July, Morrow and other officers met at Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale, where they had training on things like Ag
in the classroom and working on FFA workbooks.
The next activity in July was a trip to Washington, D.C. While
there, Morrow said they visited the Capitol and places like John
Deere. They connected with important people in the farm industry.
While visiting the Capitol, they also talked with some
Representative’s legislative assistants. They met someone from
Illinois who was there for the National Corn Conference and talked
about major issues like renewing the farm bill.
Next up for Morrow and other section presidents was FFA Leadership
Camp. There they had trainings on leadership of chapters but also
had fun activities like dances. One of Morrow’s favorite parts of
camp was reflection time, where she talked about her core value.
At camp, Morrow’s peers voted her to be the District Three Director.
Morrow went to a district director meeting the first week of August
with four other section presidents chosen to represent their
district. She said they learned more about how the Illinois FFA and
Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers (IAVAT)
board work together to plan the year. For instance, they went over
the FFA policy book and talked about issues in their districts.
August activities included working three days at the
Illinois State Fair. At the fair, Morrow participated in the Parade
of Champions and helped out at the FFA barnyard working mainly with
the rabbits. Holding a block of cheese in the parade and shaking
hands with the Governor are fond memories Morrow has of her time at
the fair.
Once school started, Morrow continued to do section work such as
getting reports from her team. There are two section teacher
meetings a year where Morrow gives a report from the team. The rest
is mostly up to her team to do.
Additionally, she has gone to several schools around the area to
talk about FFA and agriculture.
This fall, Morrow participated in events like the STAR conference
for section officers.
October was the National FFA Convention in
Indianapolis and Morrow served as a flagbearer at the opening
ceremony. Morrow was able to sit three rows from the stage, which
was closer than she had ever been.
November was the Leadership Training School for all the FFA chapters
and sections.
As part of LTS, there are chapter visits. As section president,
Morrow was in charge of details such as what they would be eating.
She also met with the state officer.
Each day of chapter visits, Morrow went to two or three different
schools, so she had to talk to schools about what classes she would
be visiting and arrange times for the visits.
At Leadership Training School night, Morrow said there were three
major workshops for mostly sophomores through seniors and officers.
Morrow led a session based on the video game Among
Us, a science-fiction murder mystery game that follows a group of
Crewmates who have impostors among them. In the session, Morrow said
they talked about how you can trust someone when people sometimes
lie straight to your face. When people are sincere, you are more
likely to trust them.
In other sessions, Morrow said they talked about what is their
“why?,” what their passion is and who they respect.
Two of Morrow’s teammates talked to FFA members about the various
opportunities in FFA. She said they talked to those in FFA about
participating in Career Development Events and Leadership
Development Events.
One session done by one of the major officers was for the Greenhands
who are new to FFA and talked about how to work with people you
don’t agree with.
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At the dinner the final night of Leadership Training
School, FFA State Officer Owen Torrance talked about embracing
failure because it is on the path to success.
November also was the month Morrow attended the FFA board meeting.
In December, Morrow mostly attended section meetings
but also participated in Career Development Events. She said these
events include sessions of poultry judging, livestock judging, horse
judging and food science.
At the end of January, Morrow will participate in a Ground Zero
Conference for freshmen. There, she will help the students learn
leadership qualities, and share other information they can take back
to their FFA chapter. She said so many students have been attending
these conferences may add a fourth Ground Zero Conference next year.
National FFA week will be in February and Morrow will help with that
at LCHS. There will be ag fact Friday videos during the month, too.
In the spring, Morrow will help with district proficiencies.
Other spring events include the FFA awards banquet Morrow will help
plan.
A video call for section officers is coming up soon.
Additionally, Morrow has more state officer meetings, board meetings
and section meetings and will attend more career development and
leadership events.
At the meetings, Morrow said they will assist in planning for the
Illinois FFA State Convention. The section presidents will be
helping with meetings and anything else that is needed. Morrow will
be leading her section through voting processes and answer questions
at the business sessions.
Morrow's participation in Additional Activities
During the summer, Morrow had an interview to become an FFA national
delegate to represent the state of Illinois. Though Morrow was not
chosen to be a delegate, she was able to fill in as an alternate at
one of the events helping with a voting session.
Other activities Morrow has participated in include several dinners
where she met people in the farm industry.
As part of the FFA National Convention, there was a day of community
service. Morrow helped one group mulch trees in a large graveyard.
She said one of the trees was one of the oldest ones in
Indianapolis.
At one Ground Zero Conference Morrow led a group. This conference is
for middle schoolers to give them an introduction to FFA.
Through Leadership Development events, Morrow has learned
parliamentary procedure and how to run a meeting.
Other things Morrow has learned are how to write a resume, how to
write professional emails correctly and how to write a sponsor
letter.
As section president Morrow has to keep up with
chapters through emails about section spotlights or timelines for
Illinois FFA. She also has to enter all the results for each LDE and
CDE once the teacher sends them to her.
Morrow and others have been putting together a tub of items to be
passed on to future section officers, so they don’t have to continue
to buy items for Leadership Training School.
Morrow’s Favorite parts of her role
At the FFA National Convention, Morrow served as a flagbearer at the
opening ceremony. When she went up with the flag and Illinois was
announced, Morrow said it was amazing to hear all the cheers from
everyone from Illinois.
For Morrow, hearing from a man who climbed Mt. Everest two times was
another highlight of the FFA National Convention.
Though there is an FFA advisor, Morrow enjoys the flexibility the
advisor allows students to have in planning events.
Working on bringing forth the FFA blue and gold spirit and seeing
the participation of her FFA chapter in events are other highlights
for Morrow.
Something else Morrow has enjoyed is meeting
important people in the agriculture industry and various
representatives. For instance, at one event, Morrow met United
States Senator Tammy Duckworth and Director of the Illinois
Department of Agriculture Jerry Costello.
During these past several months, Morrow has had two television
interviews and will soon do a radio interview. She said these
interviews have helped her with public speaking.
“Balance” is Morrow’s core value word this year. Morrow has so much
going on, she is either laughing or crying due to stress from all
the work she has to do. Becoming more organized and making lists is
something Morrow wants to work on. She has to balance her section
duties with schoolwork, keeping up grades, staying healthy, taking
care of her pet rabbit and spending time with family.
Last year, Morrow’s word was “believe” because she wanted to work on
having a more positive mindset.
Connections have been helpful as Morrow has met many people in the
agricultural industry. These have provided her with opportunities
such as talking with an EPA employee about the Avian bird flu. Since
Morrow wants to go into the agriculture field, knowing these people
will be helpful.
Being section president has provided Morrow room for growth and
leadership since much of the planning is on the student. Her FFA
advisor has told Morrow she has matured from serving in this role.
In May, Morrow will graduate from LCHS, and she plans to go into the
agriculture field. Her time as FFA section president is providing
her with many skills that will help her in the future.
[Angela Reiners] |
