North Upper Snake River District Sentinel Dillan Lerwill is ready to present Patricia.
The North Upper Snake River District officer team met in May 2024 with many ideas of how to better their district in eastern Idah0. After looking through each idea, it saw how social media was beginning to impact local chapters and realized it needed an exciting way to get chapters to post more about their district. What better way than with a little friendly competition?
After hosting social media challenges throughout the state Career Development Event (CDE) competition, the district decided to offer a prize for posting the most, which is how the “Traveling Trophy Patricia” idea was born.
The idea was simple: A traveling trophy (a rubber chicken named Patricia) went throughout the district after each activity. Whoever receives it at the end of the year gets Patricia, a plaque and, of course, bragging rights.
“I pushed my school to work hard and participate in all of the challenges,” says North Upper Snake River District Sentinel Dillan Lerwill (pictured above). “Ultimately, we ended up winning.”
At the district’s opening social, Patricia was first awarded to the Sugar-Salem FFA Chapter. The officer team encouraged its school to bring her to FFA events and post pictures with tags. The chapter also brought her to the National FFA Convention & Expo and spots like Dollywood, Keenland and more.
Sugar-Salem FFA member Brandon Little brings Patricia through the airport.
“We loved having Patricia come on our trips with us,” says Sugar-Salem FFA member James Little. “We got to take so many fun pictures, and even made her an FFA jacket.”
The next activity was the district’s Christmas social. After national convention, the social media challenges winner was the Madison FFA Chapter; it had Patricia throughout National FFA Week activities. Then, at the district Leadership Development Event competition, the South Fremont FFA Chapter won due to its participation in National FFA Week social media challenges.
The North Upper Snake River District officer team saw a lot of members have fun with this friendly competition. They hope to keep this new tradition alive through the next set of officers.
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