FFA officers focus on convention details

For many teenagers during spring, “yard practice” resembles an acre of grass, two nets and a soccer ball. For the Illinois FFA state officers, “yard practice” consists of a Springfield backyard space, three-inch script binders and stacked totes for a makeshift podium.

The countdown to the 97th Illinois State FFA Convention continues, along with practices to perfect every skit, speech and stage cue.

With only a few weeks remaining until the gavel drops on Tuesday, June 10, the large items on the docket include memorization, digital designing and final filming touches.

During such a busy season, the team constantly keeps collaborative spirits in check with weekly meetings and consistent communication, despite the differing schedules of each officer.

Member events kept the officers on the road and across the state in the past month, such as at state contests for food science, poultry, horticulture and ag mechanics, as well as chapter and section banquets.

The state officer team continues to travel and advocate for Illinois agriculture, ag education and FFA through meetings with government officials, such as Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, and in the state capital for Bacon Day with the Illinois Pork Producers Association.

While travel is known to be a huge part of state officer life, the arrival of May brings a limited amount of trips.

May starts the “lockdown” season for the officer team, which limits the weekday schedule to the FFA Center in Springfield. Each day focuses more and more on perfecting convention preparations both indoors and out in the stage-sized space of the yard.

Sidney Stiers from the Williamsfield FFA Chapter is the 2024-2025 Illinois Association FFA state reporter.