FFA Members Take on Harrisburg With Some First Class Service!

My name is Janae Herr, I am a member of the Penn State Class of 2016 and am attending the Berks

Campus while I passionately pursue a degree in Agricultural and Extension Education. I proud to be serving as a 2013 Penn State Teach Ag! Avenger.

In the beginning of March I had the sincere privilege to join over 400 Pennsylvania FFA members in Harrisburg for the State Legislative Leadership Conference. This event provides FFA members a hands-on experience of a day in the life of a Pennsylvania Legislator, all while teaching the value of civic responsibility and the value of a vote. The three day event started with breakout sessions for the FFA members. The experienced lessons on etiquette and professionalism, they took a crash course in Parliamentary Procedure as well as the process of how a bill is made. All of this in preparation for the active debating and amending of current and pending pieces of legislation. The members were divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate and assigned to the majority and minority groups of each. Members spent the extent of the first day amending, discussing, voting and some more amending. But most importantly, learning by doing.

Pennsylvania FFA members with Secretary
of Agriculture, George Greig.

The members took a break from the bills to clock in an amazing 1200 hours of community service! Pennsylvania FFA members traveled across the Harrisburg area to 22 different service locations. I had the privilege to serve alongside some super FFA members at the Central PA Food Bank. I was so proud of the members’ willingness to jump in and do whatever was asked of them. The team I joined assembled over 800 boxes of food for elderly individuals in Pennsylvania! FFA members truly are Living to Serve!

The conference concluded with an early morning breakfast with Pennsylvania legislators. Conference attendees were honored to be joined by not only the Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. George Greig but also the Governor of Pennsylvania, Mr. Tom Corbett! I so enjoyed these few days of interacting with these superb members! The future of Agriculture is certainly bright!

Members volunteering at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter @TeachAgPSU, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PSUTeachAg.

Janae Herr

Student Blogger

Penn State Teach Ag! Avenger

2016 Student Teacher Candidate