Albion FFA Heads to Harrisburg for State Legislative Leadership Conference

-

Earlier this week, six Albion FFA members had the opportunity to travel to the Pennsylvania FFA State Legislative Leadership Conference (SLLC) in Harrisburg, PA. There were approximately 630 other FFA members in attendance from across the state. During the three-day event, students learned about professionalism, developed interpersonal skills, and made friends along the way.


On night one, students were split into groups to attend workshops about how to advocate for the agriculture industry and communicate effectively. They learned how to start conversations and proper table etiquette.


Day two brought more excitement. Students were separated into two groups to emulate the minority and minority Caucasus and deliberated on different House Bills that are currently going through the Pennsylvania Senate. Then, both groups came together to discuss in the form of a mock trial, defending their stance and point of view. They were given a binder at the beginning of the conference with different House Bills that are currently going through PA Senate right now that relate to agriculture, and used them to form their trials.



Albion FFA members and Advisors with our 2022-2023 PA FFA State Chaplin, Zayleigh Wade!


Through this process, students learn about the legislative process, including how a bill becomes a law, why their vote matters, and what happens in our government at the State level. Students are encouraged and empowered to advocate for issues they believe in and articulate their thoughts professionally.


I couldn't forget to mention that at every FFA event there's a lot of fun things happening, too. After a busy day, the members participated in a "Glow Rave" dance with black nights and glow sticks. Members are encouraged to wear white t-shirts to the dance and bring markers, as the t-shirt glows and they can collect signatures from all of their new friends!


On the last day of the conference, the students had the opportunity to attend a breakfast with Pennsylvania’s legislators. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding delivered remarks on the future of the State’s agriculture industry and the importance of young leaders being involved in the legislative process. To close, FFA members and their legislators traveled to the State Capital for a tour and closing remarks. 


I had an absolute blast on this trip with our FFA members! They are so hard-working and dedicated to making the agriculture industry and strive to better themselves each and every day.



Thank you for you endless support,


Ms. Cusate

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome!

-
Image
  I'm So Happy You Are Here! Hello! My name is Nicolette Cusate and I am currently a junior majoring in Agricultural and Extension Education at The Pennsylvania State University ! Over the next year and a half and beyond, I will be sharing my goals, challenges , learning curves, and victories with all of you as I navigate my journey to become the best agricultural educator I can be for my students !      A Little Bit About Me   I grew up outside of Berwick, Pennsylvania with my mother, father, and sister. Growing up, I l ov ed to play outside . I had a deep love for nature and was always collect ing leaves, rocks, and bugs. My parents bought me educational books to learn about all the things I would find outside. I didn't grow up on a farm, but I knew from a young age that I loved learning about the natural world. I attended Nescopeck Elementary and Berwick Middle School before moving to Danville, Pennsylvania in 2012.    Now, my favorite ho...
Read more

A Pig-ture Perfect SAE Visit

-
Image
For my second SAE visit, I had the chance to visit Andy's SAE. Andy is a sophomore at Northwestern Senior High School who is currently serving as the Albion FFA Junior Treasurer. He is active within the agriculture education program and the FFA chapter, and always has a "can do" attitude towards all his assignments and officer tasks. Before visiting Andy, Mr. Honeycutt and I talked to him about a date and time that would work for him and his family so that we could come visit. Andy talks about his pigs in class often, so I knew he would be happy we took the time to come see his project. Andy's pigs are an entrepreneurship/ownership SAE where he is raising two pigs. He got the pigs when they were three months old. He has plans to butcher one of the pigs and use the money from the first pig to pay to have the second pig butchered as well. During our visit, we met with Andy's family members and they discussed the progress Andy has been making with his pigs and the tr...
Read more

Two Science Classrooms - Twice the Fun!

-
Image
What was your favorite subject in high school? Mine was agriculture (obviously), but if I had to pick a core class, it would be science. It's no surprise though, because agriculture education and science go hand-in-hand. In fact, agriculture education is basically applied STEM education. Pretty cool, right? I loved Chemistry when I was in high school, so much so that I had a short stint in college as a Chemistry minor. However, I quickly realized that it would be significantly harder than I thought - but I still love that branch of science and learning about it! At Northwestern, we have a bunch of awesome science teachers, so imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to observe not one, but TWO science teachers in our building!  First up was Dr. Cinda Murray, the Chemistry teacher at Northwestern. Dr. Murray is also engaged in the Global Learning in Agriculture (GLAG) Community with me, so we shared a common thread from the beginning. The GLAG Community was developed by the ...
Read more