Every year, the National FFA Delegate experience unites 475 FFA members to share ideas with fellow members, propose changes to the organization and help shape FFA into an organization they can be proud of. I talked with two delegates and Joe Martin, an FFA program specialist who manages the delegate experience, about their experiences.
The Business Session
Each state has two constitutionally guaranteed delegates, along with additional delegates based on the number of FFA members in that state. The delegates are divided into six committees that represent their states at the business session during the national convention.
Martin says all 475 delegates will come together at the business session. “They’ll vote on the recommendations that the committee’s proposed,” he says. “If we have any amendments, they will vote on those amendments.”
A Time-Honored Event
Martin also notes that the business session is a valued tradition that dates back to the first national convention in 1928. Hawaii delegate Kenneth Matsuda says he shares the delegate experience with someone special to him.
“It was a really interesting experience because I come from a family of members, and my dad was one before me all the way back in the 19-something,” Matsuda says. “ I took it as my turn to help make change for the betterment of not only myself, but also the members and future members of FFA.”
The Delegate Legacy
The ideas formed during the delegate experience contribute to the future of FFA. Martin says that some of the changes that came from the delegate experience include the adoption of the FFA Creed, a statement of the National FFA Organization’s values and beliefs, as well as the admission of girls into the FFA in 1969. California delegate Geneve York says her agriculture teacher got to vote on whether girls could wear slacks when he was a delegate.
“Now we can wear socks today,” York says. “And honestly, I love it.”
Matsuda says that his goal for being a delegate is to ensure his community’s needs aren’t overlooked. “My goal as a delegate, in general, is to kind of give a voice for my state, speak for the people I come from and just kind of make sure that we have a say in what goes on in our organization.”
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