On February 23, 2024, the Alliance FFA loaded 13 members and their two advisors into two vans and headed to Kearney, Nebraska. Why were they heading to Kearney? Well, these students met with two guest speakers depending on their age, and learned how to stay strong as a team. While the students learned about teamwork, the advisors got to sit in a meeting on how to improve their chapters. I interviewed Kaylee and Addison to see what they learned.
My first interviewee was Kaylee Henthorn, who was in the Gold group. The first question that I asked Kaylee was who was their guest speaker and what was the background information on him. Kaylee told me, “Rhett Laubach; he is a professional speaker from Oklahoma. He served as a State FFA Officer for Oklahoma for two terms.” My next question was what did they learn from the speaker, “Rhett taught us a lot about taking charge as a leader and various skills that will enhance our leadership abilities. One lesson that particularly stuck in my mind was ‘Everything On Purpose, For A Purpose’. Be intentional and do things on purpose for a purpose and you will see amazing results. But also believe that everything happening around you is on purpose and for a purpose.” She told me she is hoping to use these skills countless times throughout life. When asked what her favorite part of the trip was, Kaylee said, “My favorite part of the trip had to be Rhett’s hilarious sense of humor and lessons that I know will follow me all through my life. Additionally, I loved seeing the younger members of the chapter stepping up to enhance their leadership skills to better the future of the chapter.” The final question was did she gain any knowledge from this, she responded, “I think Rhett helped advance my knowledge in many ways. He often told relatable stories before teaching a lesson and personally, that helped me put a lot of aspects of my life into perspective and helped me establish goals regarding the type of person, leader, and friend I would like to become.”
The second interview I got was with Addison Belford, who was in the Blue group. The first question I asked Addison was who was their guest speaker and what was the background information on him. Addison answered, “Our speaker was Kelly Barnes and he did FFA all through high school!” The next question was what she learned and how has she applied it to her life. “I learned more about leadership and how sometimes it is important to be a part of a team, but also how sometimes you need to be by yourself, I also learned about how it’s ok to be upset and angry, I have applied it to my life by using teamwork.” Addison told me that her favorite parts of the trip were eating Raising Canes, hanging out with friends, and listening to Kelly teach! When I asked her if this would help others in life, Addison stated, “I think this helped because you learn new things and it helps you in your daily life.”
Overall, the Alliance FFA had lots of fun and learned a lot about teamwork. I hope that our school’s FFA chapter gets more opportunities in future years!
