South O’Brien FFA Members Attend District Conference

Front: Jackson Simm, Lily Brown, Alyssa Harper, Brayden Stines, Hunter Lange, Aiden Bush. Middle: Allison Myers, Torrin Templer, Owen Oliver, Hailei Wallinga, Aubree Bruns, Jacob De Berg, Ethan Schwarz, Roman Harms, Caden Wittrock, John Puhrmann, Bensen Rohwer, Jak Behrens, Karson Wetrich. Back: Jasper Johnson, Abby Stout, Kate Dau, BreLee Rasmussen, Tricia Kilts, Will Stout, Gabe Moermond, Logan Dau, Brett Evans, Austin Negus, Bode Bailey, Nathan Harms.

Caden Wittrock
South O’Brien FFA Chapter Reporter
Each year the Northwest District and Iowa FFA officers plan and facilitate Greenhand Fire Up Conferences for FFA members. Northwestern College in Orange City welcomed over 450 FFA members from all over the Northwest District on Tuesday, October 17, 2023. 
District and State FFA officers led four interactive workshops for first-year high school FFA members, also known as Greenhands, for the annual Greenhand Fire Up Conference. The workshops facilitated were leadership-focused emphasizing the experiences that occur in the lives of beginning high school students. Thirty-one members from the South O’Brien FFA Chapter attended.
Iowa FFA President, Holly Schmitt, stated, “Greenhand Fire Up provides a chance for first-year high school members to get a sneak peek of the opportunities that FFA holds, and is a conference for members to meet and interact with state and district officers.”
Sophomore Gabe Moermond said he attended a communication workshop at Greenhand Fire Up. “I learned just how important communication is for our chapter to grow and succeed. As an officer, I have to use those techniques to be a better leader within our chapter.”
Hunter Lange, an 8th grader, said that he learned a lot about the opportunities that FFA has to offer. He attended a cooperation workshop and he said, “I learned how to work more effectively with other people, even if we see some situations differently.”  
Freshman Nathan Harms said he “learned all the possibilities to grow in FFA.” Throughout the day, Nathan enjoyed meeting new people as the activities had a lot of interaction with others. He said he is looking forward to getting more involved in FFA after learning about all the opportunities. 
The officers prepared and facilitated workshops on authenticity, balancing priorities, communication, and FFA opportunities – in order to provide the first-year FFA members with skills they would use both within and outside of FFA. The goal was to engage FFA members in learning about the tools that would allow them to be successful in anything they are part of through high school and beyond.
Greenhand Fire Up is made possible with support from the Iowa FFA Foundation.