The Wisconsin Association of FFA will celebrate 89 years of premier leadership, personal growth and career success at the Wisconsin FFA Convention in Madison June 11 to 14. The convention will attract over 3,500 members, advisors, parents, alumni, and sponsors to celebrate their year’s success and support for students involved in agricultural education. Special guests attending include the USDA Deputy Secretary Steve Censky, Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, and National FFA Vice President Gracie Furnish from Kentucky.
Wisconsin FFA is expecting an exciting event as members will participate in leadership development events, compete for awards, vote on items of FFA business, tour businesses, attend workshops and meet new friends from all areas of the state.
On Monday, June 11, members will take part in the Tenth Annual Day of Service in the Madison area. Students will help make a difference in the local communities. Members will volunteer throughout the greater Madison area and collectively log more than 500 service hours at the City of Madison Parks, Community Action Coalition, Goodman
Community Center, Oakwood Village-University Woods, River Food Pantry, UW-Arboretum and Salvation Army of Dane County.
Assistant Farm Director Jenna Lee talked with Beth Rieth the FFA Day of Service Program Manager who said, “There will be over 200 FFA members heading out into Madison for the Day of Service.”
Service is a main building block for the FFA organization.
“Service is very important for FFA and we hope that the experiences they have during the day of service will motivate the members to do similar service work in their own communities,” said Rieth.
Other convention highlights include the Rally to Fight Hunger. Wisconsin FFA has partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin to purchase ingredients in order to package individual sized meals. The National FFA Organization as well as Kerry has contributed funds to support this event. Chapters will be packaging the meals on Monday, June 11. Wisconsin FFA is packaging 40,000 pounds of food for families in Wisconsin.
“With the strong ties to agriculture that FFA has collaborating with Second Harvest for the Rally to Fight Hunger was a no brainer, said Rieth. It gives the chapters a way to help fight hunger right here in Wisconsin.”
The National FFA Organization provides opportunities for State Associations and local chapters to apply for grants to support community service projects.
This week is a celebration of the student success and recognition of FFA activities conducted across the entire state of
Wisconsin. FFA is making a positive difference in today’s schools and communities. FFA members will be competing in state level competitions vying for opportunities to move on to national competition through the Agriscience Fair and leadership development events. FFA members will meet and visit with numerous industry representatives through the Convention Expo on Wednesday, June 13. We will highlight some of the best of the best young leaders, entrepreneurs and agriculturists across the state of Wisconsin.
“Students enrolled in agricultural education in Wisconsin schools and who are members of the FFA have a fantastic opportunity for leadership and career development,” said Wisconsin FFA Executive Director Cheryl Zimmerman. “The
Wisconsin FFA Convention is our opportunity to recognize the importance of the education to our society about agriculture and the achievement of young people who are the future leaders of the agriculture industry.”
The Wisconsin Association of FFA is a leading student organization due to the efforts of more than 21,000 students across the state. With a focus on premier leadership, personal growth and career success, students’ FFA activities complement agricultural classroom instruction by giving them an opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge while gaining real world experience. These activities are dependent on donor funding through the Wisconsin FFA Foundation.
For more information about Wisconsin FFA and the Wisconsin FFA Foundation visit www.wisconsinffa.org or www.wisconsinffafoundation.org, become a fan of Wisconsin FFA Foundation on Facebook, or call 715-659-4807.