Northwest Kan. FFA members attend district officers conference

The FFA Northwest District Officer Team: (Back Row) Colton Vajnar, District Reporter of Hays, Lane Fischer, District Secretary of Ellis, and Caden Pfeifer, District Treasurer of Russell. (Front Row) Ashton Ottley, District Vice President of Hays, Leah David, District Sentinel of Norton, and Jaden Smith, District President of Northern Valley.

KS FFA

MANHATTAN – Ashton Ottley and Colton Vajnar of the Hays FFA Chapter, along with Lane Fischer, Ellis FFA Chapter; Caden Pfeifer, Russell Chapter; Leah David, Norton Chapter; and Jaden Smith, Northern Valley Chapter, participated in the Kansas FFA District Officer’s Conference (DOC) held at the Marriott Convention Center in Junction City, KS, August 11-12.

Ottley serves as the Northwest District Vice President, Vajnar is Northwest District Reporter, Fischer is Northwest District Secretary, Pfeifer is Northwest District Treasurer, Leah David is Northwest District Sentinel, and Jaden Smith is Northwest District President.

The theme of “Fantastic Members and How to Serve Them” encompassed the key elements of identifying the officer’s StrengthsFinder themes, building a community in their districts, understanding their reason for service, and pinpointing how their personality is used in a team setting. Just as each of these ideas is necessary in any business or organization, district officers are expected to serve with these key themes in mind as they use their strengths to impact the lives of FFA members.

Starting with an executive committee meeting, officers were able to discuss current issues facing Kansas FFA and Kansas agricultural education. Students are able to bring perspectives from around the state which will be put into action by the Kansas FFA Association. Officer’s participated in workshops led by the 2018-2019 Kansas FFA Officers, and Elizabeth Meyer of Marion-Florence who is serving as the 2018 Kansas FFA National Officer Candidate. Leaders of the Kansas State University College of Agriculture welcomed officers at a banquet and gave words of wisdom about their year of service. As the conference drew to a close, district officers reported on the ideas that they choose to pursue before heading home to implement the skills that they learned.

The Northwest District officers have responsibilities such as serving on the state executive meeting, planning and facilitating a district Greenhand Conference for first year members, volunteering at the State Fair, and presenting a district banquet.

The Kansas FFA District Officers Conference is facilitated and organized by the officers of the Kansas FFA Association, the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University, and the Kansas State Board of Education.

The Kansas FFA Association has over 9,000 members in 199 chapters. The National FFA Organization is the largest high school vocational organization in the nation and prepares its 653,359 members for leadership and careers in science, business, and technology in agriculture. The mission of the FFA is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. Learn more at ksffa.org.