By Alex Griebel – South O’Brien FFA Reporter
Each year NW District and Iowa FFA officers plan and facilitate Greenhand Fire Up Conferences for FFA members in the NW District. The Clay County Fair Events Center welcomed FFA chapters from all over the NW district on Tuesday, October 15th. District and state officers lead 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 with an emphasis on the experiences that occur in the lives of beginning high school students.
Iowa FFA President, Collin Bauer, 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.”
The officers prepared and facilitated workshops of: 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.
South O’Brien FFA member, Noah Wittrock, commented “I learned how to work together efficiently with my peers. I also got to hear about all the different things you can get involved with in FFA. My favorite part was getting to play games with the groups we were put in.” Greenhand Fire Up is made possible with support from the Iowa FFA Foundation.