by LINDSEY TRUE, Polk County FFA Federation Vice President
Hey everybody! Welcome to the 2022-23 school year. I hope you had a great summer and you are ready to get involved in some exciting ag opportunities. Participating in various activities is a great way to stay in touch with friends from past FFA events or to build stronger friendships within our local chapters. There are plenty of events already planned for this fall. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Now is the perfect time of the school year to begin considering whether you want to be a part of a CDE team. What is a CDE team? CDA stands for Career Development Events. There are many opportunities out there for both middle and high school students. Some of the categories include Citrus, Forestry, Tool ID, Poultry, Livestock, Horticulture, Creed, Vegetable judging, OH Demo, Nursery and Landscape, Soil and Land judging, and OCC. Anyone can try out to be a member of a team; no experience is required in most instances.
We start the year with several scheduled events for the month of September. September 22 is the County OCC, located at Winter Haven High School. High School check-in is at 3 p.m. and middle school check-in is at 5 p.m. Good luck to all the teams competing.
Are you interested in developing or improving your leadership skills? Then consider the COLT Conference at the LTC center on September 26-29 (select one day to attend). Another competition you may be interested in is the County Creed Contest at Auburndale High School on October 4. High school check-in is at 3 p.m., and middle school check-in is at 5 p.m. Again, good luck to all those competing.
This fall the National FFA Convention will be held in Indianapolis on October 25-29. This is an amazing opportunity for many Polk County FFA members. They will have the chance to tour the nearby agricultural industries and learn how they are operated. While at the convention, they will be able to attend different sessions highlighting issues related to agriculture from different perspectives. They will be able to hear the national officer team as they run opening and closing ceremonies. They will hear officers’ retiring addresses, inspiring speakers, and the accomplishments of FFA members from around the world.
Two local students who will be attending the National Convention as competitors are Wilhelmina Ullrich and Lindsey True from the Frostproof Senior FFA Chapter. They will be competing at the National Agriscience Fair in the Social Studies Category. They created a project, titled “Understanding Consumers Milk Selection.” Their project included a survey to determine how knowledgeable people are on milk labeling and exploring common misconceptions within the dairy industry. The project also researched what influences consumers’ milk selections. Their project has been preselected as a finalist. Their competition interview will take place on September 16. Upon completion of their interview, they will be attending the National Convention to find out how they placed. Best of luck to them.
I hope everyone has a great start to the year!