Jan. 11, three FFA state officers including the President and Vice President, spoke to the FFA class.

The students that are elected into those two positions take a year off of college and spend the entire school year travelling and presentations at high schools all around the state. The students visit three to four schools every day all five days of the week, and when they can, they have another available state officer with them to help out.

“Our primary job as state officers is to visit schools,” president Cody McQueen said. “By the end of the school year we will have visited around 400 different schools. We travel all across the state of Texas to advocate for what FFA does and the benefits of being an FFA member.”

During the officer’s visit, they presented ways to help the class build up public speaking skills and how to become better FFA members outside of just the class.

“The lecture was about teamwork and communication with friends and listening to each other,” junior FFA member and school officer Bryce Howsey said. “The presentation also showed us how to grow as a student and person, along with dealing with public speaking so that we can be confident with ourselves and able to be comfortable while being in front of people.”

Students can run for a state officer position during their senior year. Students running go through an intense process. Both adults and other students evaluate the students during an FFA convention that takes place each July. The convention includes interviews, writing exercises and public speaking in front of thousands of FFA members.

“Usually about 50 people run for state office and only 10 are elected,”First  Vice President Taylin Antonick said. “What the nominating committee does is bring it down to the top 20 students and then the students from the Texas FFA association elect the 10 positions.”

Many of the FFA students spend numerous hours in and out of the classroom and become close with their classmates.

“FFA is a safe place,” sophomore Madeleine Rawlings said. “It challenges me and encourages me to strive my best while surrounded by the ones who care about me.”