Section 23 Officers pose after a successful Leadership Training School.
What happens when a group of passionate students steps beyond the classroom to lead, serve, and inspire? In Section 23, the answer is clear.
The Section 23 FFA Officers: Haven Cash (North Clay Senior), Alayna White (Wayne City Senior), Natalie Zwilling (Richland County Senior), Owen Kocher (Richland County Senior), Savannah Cycholl (Richland County Junior), and Emma Hefferman (Richland County Senior), prove that true leadership is measured by service, not titles or popularity. Each day, these officers strive to make a positive impact by helping others, developing leadership skills, and supporting FFA members through events like Leadership Training School (LTS).
To begin, LTS is one of the most important annual events for Section 23. This event offers essential training for chapter officers along with their members. It encourages students to grow as leaders and deepen their understanding of the FFA mission. The mission states, “FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.” This year, Section 23 officers designed workshops centered around these three pillars of the FFA mission.
Bid To Lead
Kocher and Cycholl auction off leadership traits rather than livestock to see which team can make the most premier leader.
The officers split into three pairs, each tackling one pillar. Kocher and Cycholl led the Premier Leadership workshop; they emphasized traits of effective leaders. First, the officers hosted a mock auction where leadership qualities are auctioned off to the highest-bidding teams. Then, after all the traits are bided on, the teams debate why their traits create the premier leader. All in all, this fun, competitive activity encourages members to think about qualities that make a strong leader and how those traits could help in their home chapters.
Goals and Growth
The officers and members write letters with three goals they want to accomplish within the next six months.
Next, White and Cash facilitated the Personal Growth workshop, and they focused on goal setting. Members wrote letters to themselves outlining three specific goals to achieve within six months. White will mail the letters after the event at the six-month time stamp. Throughout the session, the officers stressed the importance of writing down goals and how that first step can lead to meaningful personal development. Further, when this exercise is completed, it helps members to understand how personal growth is directly linked to leadership success.
Career Quest
A group of members acts out the career shown during the Career Success workshop.
Finally, Career Success was led by Zwilling and Hefferman. Their workshop promoted careers in agriculture through an engaging guessing game. Members grouped into small teams and took turns sitting in front of their group with a career title above their heads. Teammates gave clues to help them guess the career. Then, the game became progressively more difficult, first removing the career list and then eliminating verbal clues altogether. After the third round, members discussed what made the activity challenging and how communication plays a critical role in any workplace. Moreover, this sparked conversation around the importance of clear, adaptable communication for career success.
By focusing on the core values of FFA, the Section 23 officer team continues to lead by example. Through Leadership Training School, they demonstrated how service, leadership, and education can inspire others. Their efforts motivate members across the section to grow, lead, and serve within their own chapters, truly living the FFA motto, “Living to Serve.”
