National FFA Conference leaves lasting impact on local students
INDIANAPOLIS – Purnell Swett FFA members recently attended the National FFA Organization’s Washington Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. and returned home inspired and eager to serve their community.
Purnell Swett FFA Chapter members Hayden Florita, Cornelia Oxendine, Alexis Lowery, and Zyra Bullard were among students from chapters across the nation to attend the conference from July 9-13, 2024.
FFA members spent the week under the guidance of agricultural and leadership professionals, facilitators, and FFA staff who guided them through workshops, seminars, small group activities, and visits to national landmarks such as the National Mall, Arlington National Cemetery, Bureau of Indian Education, United States Department of Agriculture, Smithsonian Museums, and the U.S. Capitol. Each day the conference focused on a different principle taught through the context of our nation’s capital: exploration, encouragement, advocacy and service.
Purnell Swett FFA Chapter members said the experience made a lasting impact on their lives and gave them new ideas and a new vision for their chapter’s impact in the local community it serves.
“WLC was a wonderful experience. I got to meet so many different people from all across America from many different backgrounds and cultures and make many new friends,” said Purnell Swett FFA Chapter President Hayden Florita.
“WLC has also taught me how to better serve my community and my chapter through a Living To Serve (LTS) Plan that I created to specifically meet the needs in my community. Overall WLC was a wonderful experience and it allowed me to see how I can help my community,” Florita added.
Purnell Swett FFA Chapter Reporter Cornelia Oxendine said the experience allowed her the opportunity to network with students across the nation and hone her skills as a leader.
“What an experience!” Oxendine said. “WLC was life-changing for me. It showed me how to use my leadership skills for my community and also gave me lifelong friends and a chance to feel heard and understood by others. I will use all the skills I made during this conference towards my community and someday worldwide!”
The weeklong session was offered to FFA members as an opportunity to help them cultivate their leadership skills. The conference is the second-largest student experience that the National FFA hosts each year, only behind the National FFA Convention and Expo, which draws more than 70,000 attendees.
The capstone of the conference is the development of a Living to Serve Plan, a civic engagement project that participants will implement in their communities after returning home.
To develop this Living to Serve Plan, members were asked to analyze the needs of their communities before attending WLC. Upon returning home, students can lean on their FFA chapter advisers to implement the plan. Examples of projects in recent years include promoting agricultural literacy, bringing attention to abuse, collecting and distributing shoes to individuals in Haiti, and creating a hunger awareness plan.
"I'm incredibly appreciative of this opportunity for our chapter and students during their week in Washington, D.C.,” said Purnell Swett FFA Adviser Taleek Harlee.
“I watched these individuals develop and I'm excited to see what ideas that they will bring to our chapter,” Harlee added.
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Purnell Swett FFA Chapter President Hayden Florita, left, stands recently with Chapter Reporter Cornelia Oxendine, Chapter Secretary Alexis Lowery and Chapter Historian Zyra Bullard during the FFA chapter’s trip to the National FFA Organization’s Washington Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.