The COVID-19 pandemic has presented FFA members with unique challenges, including changing the way students compete in career and leadership development events (CDE/LDE). Rather than cancel highly anticipated contests such as the Parliamentary Procedure LDE, advisors and students brainstormed, adapted and worked with National FFA to compete in the first-ever online Parliamentary Procedure event nationwide.
“Learning an entirely new competition format was challenging,” says Isabelle James, a senior FFA member from North Clackamas FFA in Milwaukie, Ore. “We used Kahoot! and Quizlet as study tools, and we used Google Classroom to post materials. We learned about each motion, every part of a motion, and we had to learn when to unmute ourselves to speak and how to read the other members virtually. We never met once in person to practice due to state guidelines.”
North Clackamas FFA also had a very unusual circumstance — one of the six Parliamentary Procedure team members competed from Slovakia.
“A member of our team who was born in Slovakia had not seen her father in two years. She traveled to Slovakia for the summer, but still wanted to be on the team,” says Kathy Mayfield, agriculture teacher and North Clackamas FFA advisor. “When National FFA released the competition platform, I knew she would still be in Slovakia, but we figured out a practice schedule, despite the nine-hour time difference.”
Beginning in November 2020, the North Clackamas FFA Parliamentary Procedure team members met virtually twice a week to practice.
“We figured out virtual strategies like how to vote on screen when you can’t physically stand up like you normally would,” Mayfield says. “We had to make sure everyone had good WiFi at home and figure out what to do if someone gets kicked off. As a coach, I normally have students in the room with me, so I had to rely solely on their drive and their own discipline.”
North Clackamas FFA won the Oregon FFA Parliamentary Procedure competition in March 2021. They advanced to the national virtual competition in August 2021, but missed the opportunity to compete in-person at national convention.
“Even though we didn’t get to compete at national convention, we reflected at the end about how we overcame a ton of adversity,” Mayfield says. “The results weren’t what they wanted, but they were still pleased with how they performed against the odds.”
James believes she learned a lot from Parliamentary Procedure.
“Competitions like Parliamentary Procedure teach vital life skills like how to speak clearly and how to follow a format,” James says. “It’s a lot of fun, and I really value this competition. We have an awesome coach, and even though we had to compete virtually, it was still an amazing experience.”
