Approximately 120 students representing FFA chapters across Clark County gathered at the STEM school —which focuses on career-readiness in the bioscience, health care and energy fields— for a series of leadership oriented workshops.
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It also gave local students an opportunity to interact and talk with national officers of the FFA, which aims to promote and support agricultural education. Gierke said it was unique experience for those students since it is rare for them to be able to sit and talk with those officers. He added that the organization has approximately 700,000 members.
The visit was part of “experience week” for the officers, who are college students and also serve on the Board of Directors for the FFA. The organization selects a state every year where newly appointed officers hone in their skills by hosting workshops and practicing speeches before they travel the rest of the country.
Ohio was selected this year and Global Impact is one of a few stops for the officers this week. The National FFA President Kolesen McCoy is a 2018 graduate of the STEM academy and first joined a local chapter of FFA in Clark County in 2014.
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McCoy said he along with his fellow national officers will be re-enrolling at their universities in the spring of 2021. He is majoring in agribusiness and applied economics at the Ohio State University. He is also pursuing a minor in political science.
McCoy said they serve as the student voice for the organization and are expected to visit FFA chapters and events all across the country throughout the year.
“Everything that starts here on the grass roots follows up to the national level,” he said.
Blaze Currie, the associate director of leadership development for the National FFA Organization, said this week is the final part of the training for the six national officers. Starting at the end of the month, they will each go their separate directions, spending several months touring.
The tour in Ohio this week also includes stops in Cincinnati and Toledo.
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