Highland FFA continues to grow

The Highland FFA chapter, which began in 2017 with about 17 members, has rapidly grown to 43 members, with five graduates seeking American degrees, the highest degree an FFA member can receive. The FFA year starts in the summer, when members exhibit a variety of projects at the Washington County Fair in July and the Iowa State Fair in August. Following that, more people join as the new academic year gets underway. To welcome these new members, the chapter organizes their annual barn warming in October, where members gather to play games and eat food to get to know one another better for the upcoming year, and introduce to them what FFA is and the possibilities they will experience in the coming year.

After barn warming, our activities really picked up. We organized a kid-friendly tractor pull at TrekFest, judged dairy products and dairy cows at the state level, constructed a float for the homecoming parade, sent 10 members to the National FFA convention and expo in Indianapolis, and hosted a Christmas party for our chapter to celebrate our successes so far this FFA year.

The chapter started preparing for its biggest competition after the new year. Members select a group competition that they are passionate about, train for one month, and participate at the Sub-District level in an effort to advance to the next stage, districts, and ideally state and national level. Parliamentary procedure, conduct of meetings, job interviews, chapter programs, ag broadcasting, welding, and extemporaneous speaking are some competitions in which members can compete.

While Members are very busy with school and FFA competitions, the chapter has raised a lot of money through fundraising efforts like staffing concession stands at other Highland events and selling fruit and cookie dough in their annual fruit sale. Additionally, they organized a monthlong food drive to collect non-perishable food items for nearby food banks and underprivileged families. While competing and raising money, members make a lot of new friendships that will last a lifetime. By participating in events like Chapter officer leadership training, Greenhand fire-up and Ignite, Amplify, and Transform, they also help the chapter reach a wider audience.

Some things that the community can look for in the upcoming months include the second annual community breakfast on Feb. 22, National FFA week where the chapter will host the Ag Olympics for highland students, and Meals for the Heartland meal packaging.