What a week...FFA Week!

What a week!

FFA Week has come to a close and I have one incredible week under my belt. I spent FFA Week in the beautiful state of COLORADO! Mr. Womochil, State Program Director of Agricultural Education, traveled with me throughout the state. Here are the highlights of the trip…

My week began on the Western Slope where I flew into Grand Junction. I spent Sunday evening with two Colorado State FFA Officers Ashley and Eric. They are awesome! We had dinner at this Mongolian grill that has very delicious food, which Ashley recommended. Thanks girl!

My first chapter visit for the week was at Fruita High School! Mr. Hudson and Ms. Heath are the teachers there at Fruita. The members cooked breakfast burritos that were to die for! All of us members hung out together and shared our FFA experiences.

The next stop was Durango, CO. I visited the Durango FFA Chapter and did a radio interview with KRSJ radio station. Mr. Ortiz is the ag teacher there at Durango. I got to hang out with the Durango FFA members and learn about how they celebrate FFA Week. They also showed me the sign that they had at National FFA Convention for their “FFA Clicks” campaign. It was a sign that FFA members could put their signature on as a commitment to wearing their seatbelt.

The mountains in this part of the state are absolutely incredible. They are breathtakingly beautiful. I felt so blessed to be able to drive through it all and see it firsthand!

We spent the night in Alamosa. The next morning we visited Alamosa FFA Chapter. Alamosa is in the San Luis Valley. I learned that it is a lot colder in the Valley than anywhere else! The Alamosa FFA Chapter was hosting their faculty through an appreciation breakfast. Members and students from Alamosa FFA, Sangre FFA, Sanford FFA and Centari were there. Centari is an agricultural education program that is considering starting an FFA Chapter. I wish them the best of luck!

Mr. Womochil and I then hit the road to head for Pueblo! At Pueblo there was a large assembly with Pueblo and Fowler FFA members where I had the opportunity to give my keynote address, “Change the Headlines.” After the keynote, we did a few leadership activities. Following the assembly, we all loaded up on a school bus and made our way to the bowling alley! Andy and Michelle, two of the state officers were at Pueblo and the bowling alley. They are so fun to be around!

^That is me and Medina! He is a Pueblo FFA member, and he is awesome!

We hit the road again that evening and drove to Lamar, CO. While in Lamar, Mr. Womochil and I had the opportunity to have dinner with past national officer Ryan Peterson. He is in graduate school at Colorado State University. He is doing research at the beef unit there in Lamar until August. He is doing well and it was a great time having dinner with him the evening before his birthday!

The SE District Leadership conference was held there in Lamar the next morning. There were about 300 FFA members that attended. It was a blast presenting my workshop to them and giving my keynote address. It was even more fun hanging out with them during lunch and in the hallways!

Our trip continued in Stratton, CO. We stopped by and visited with Mr. Wedel (who has played professional football for Arizona!!! Crazy right?: ) and the chapter officer team. They have a student teacher there right now too! I got to meet Mr. Louthan. He is doing his student teaching there at Stratton. He was a WLC Facilitator last summer. I am certain he will make an excellent Ag Teacher one day!

The next morning we found ourselves in Yuma, CO. We had a full day of a keynote address and workshops. This was a great atmosphere. There were about 15 students a workshop and we got to really dive into the workshop points. There was great discussion and I loved meeting the members around the Yuma area. They are a lot of fun, and they were sure to give me a hard time. I loved it!

Mr. Womochil, Guy Kuntz, a Colorado state officer, and I stopped in Akron to do radio interviews with the BARN Network.

Our last nightly stop of the week was at Gillcrest Valley High School FFA Chapter. We hung out and had hamburgers, good conversation and swim time. Like the rest of my trip in Colorado, I had an excellent time. As I headed to the hotel that evening I was a little sad. It was my last night in Colorado, and I had begun to love it so much. The teachers were awesome to be around, and the students were fun and always a hoot of a time!

My last day in Colorado was equally as great as the rest. On the way to Denver airport we stopped at the St. Vrain FFA Chapter and I got to tour their awesome facilities there at the Career Development Center. We had breakfast together and I hit the road again.

My last event was at the Prairie View FFA Chapter. They were having a petting zoo for FFA Week. It was by far the biggest petting zoo I have ever seen! There were so many elementary students there learning about where their ice cream comes from and how it is made. They got to see farm equipment and lots of different species of livestock. The chapter did an excellent job putting together a well rounded agricultural experience for the elementary students.

My week in Colorado was memorable to say the least! I loved every minute of it and cherish all the memories I have with the Colorado FFA members. A lot of us have become Facebook and MySpace friends. So if we are not friends yet, we really should be! I want to say thank you to all of the chapters that hosted me and participated in the FFA Week activities. I created so many memories, and even more important I built friendships! Thank you!

-Laila