National FFA Week begins Saturday and runs through Feb. 27. As I sat with National FFA officers earlier this year, they reminisced about FFA Week with their local chapters and the fun events they would have like Ag Olympics, a business luncheon with community members, pancake breakfasts, scavenger hunts and more. But this year might look a bit different because of COVID-19.
“So, I think a lot of it depends on what your community can do right now depending on the restrictions that they have,” says FFA Central Region Vice President Paxton Dahmer from Missouri. “One of the things (FFA members) can do is engage virtually. That’s been something that’s really come to light this past year, and I think it’s a beneficial way to hold an event during FFA week. You can have a virtual Zoom hour over lunch and invite people across the community to listen in and talk about your chapter. You can even do a different award ceremony during National FFA week in a virtual setting as well.”
FFA Secretary Anna Mathis from Arkansas encourages chapters to record some of those Zoom calls and share them via social media to get the word out about National FFA Week.
“Facebook is a great tool because it connects a lot of different people and over 80 percent of Americans have Facebook. So, Facebook is a great tool to record some of those Zooms to get outside of our community, get outside of the people that know us well, and try to get some exposure and make positive connections because that’s what we’re here to do, to make a positive difference in our communities.”
Southern Region Vice President Artha Jonassaint from Florida loves that FFA alumni get involved as well.
“I love FFA week because all of the members of my community like to change their profile pictures back to their time in the blue jacket and so many people share their story as to why FFA has been so impactful to them and it makes me realize that I’m a part of something so much bigger than myself and that millions of people have felt the impact of our organization.”
Tuesday, the 23rd, is “Alumni Day”. Thursday, the 25th, is “Give FFA Day”, a 24-hour fundraising event to encourage giving to local chapters, and the state and national organizations, and Friday, the 26th, is “Wear Blue Day”.
Be sure to share what you’re doing this FFA Week via social media with the #FFAWeek.