National FFA Convention Blog

This week I got to spend time with my cooperating teachers and students at the National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis! This trip was chalk full of tours, workshops, sessions, and bonding times.

The first stop of our trip was the West Virginia University! This was an excellent opportunity for students to learn about a college that they typically wouldn't have visited before. It was a typical tour that showed students the dining hall, resident rooms, classrooms, and other recreational activities on campus. It worked well because it fit in our schedule and gave students an opportunity to think about their post-secondary plans.

Since none of the students were competing in CDEs, we had a lot of opportunities to go on tours. We drove down to Louisville Kentucky and visited Churchill Downs and Louisville Slugger Museum.  It was great for the students because it was their first time traveling to nationals and they were able to see multiple cities.



We went to a total of two sessions at the convention, the opening and the 7th general session! Two sessions with students are the perfect amount of sessions to see. Students were able to see awards that were given, two keynote speakers, and a national officer's retiring address. Any more, students may have got bored with the sessions. For future reference, I'd probably only have students go to two sessions maybe three if time allowed it.

One of the days we went on a couple of tours, one with CST Corteva and another with CST Lawson Cattle Facility. These were two completely different tours showing students opportunities in Ag. The students were really engaged and learned a lot. It helped that some of the tour guides were in FFA and shared how they ended up in their current position.



Overall it was a great trip! I am glad I was able to meet a couple of the students I'll be teaching with. Also, I spent a lot of time with Mr. Masser and Mrs. Vansant! I picked up a lot of tips with planning and learned about garden tools :) After this trip, it has me pumped for student teaching this fall!