AgGeorgia supports the ag leaders of tomorrow
Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “We cannot always build the future for our youth but we can build our youth for the future.” That’s a fitting description of how Lorene Parker feels about her recent experience at the National FFA Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. Already an ag enthusiast and goal oriented, this rising senior at Rockmart High School was energized by the conference. Not only was she able to make new friends through FFA and be reacquainted with old ones, she also received instruction that she is ready to put into action that could mean life-changing contributions in her local area.
Although she wasn’t raised on a farm, Lorene has roots in farming and has developed a great admiration for agriculture. She grew up in a house built on a portion of her greatgrandparents’ farm. But it wasn’t until she became a part of FFA that she truly appreciated agriculture. “Going into high school you had to choose electives, a pathway, and I didn’t know which one to take,” explained Lorene. “I thought I wanted to be an attorney so I took the law pathway. I took ag too because my friends were taking it. I love animals and we live in a rural area so farming is a big thing and I thought I’d enjoy it. I thought it would be fun,” she said. She got really involved her first year in FFA with Career Development Events (CDE’s) and on the chapter levels, noticed the responsibilities and involvement of the officers. That led her to apply for her first leadership position in her school chapter and now embarking on a milestone; the 2019-2020 school year will be her 4th consecutive year serving as an officer, with her final position being president of her chapter. “I love being involved in the chapter,” Lorene said.
Another milestone Lorene has accomplished was attending the national conference. “Nobody from my school has ever been to the Washington Leadership Conference and I’m not aware of anyone from the county [ever attending],” said Lorene. She learned about the conference on her own and pursued the protocol to attend. Thirty students from Georgia, preferably high school junior and seniors, are selected after an application process which included composing an essay statement on why they wanted to attend. The chapter advisor had to submit something too. Once all of that was submitted, then came the consideration of paying for the trip. Although the trip was planned in the most economical way for the students, the cost was still a factor. She sent fifty letters out to local ag associations, one of which was AgGeorgia Farm Credit. She’d learned about AgGeorgia through the local office sponsoring their FFA banquet. AgGeorgia was glad to provide financial support for her to attend. Lorene says the trip to the conference was worth the effort in everything she did to get there. “It was definitely worthwhile,” said Lorene. “The conference and experience overall will help me with my senior year and I will take everything I learned back to my chapter,” she said.
A total of 370 FFA members attended the conference, which was broken into large group sessions and community group sessions with about 20 in a group. “It’s crazy how big the ag industry is and I’m meeting 370 new people that I’ll be able to contact again someday.” The small sessions were comprised of a debriefing session and sharing their observations and insights from what they’d learned that day. “I was able to grow as a leader by meeting new people in diverse situations and exposed to many new situations,” Lorene explained. “It was eye opening to have people from all over the country share things that were needed in their area that might not be needed here in mine,” she explained. “One girl was from Texas, still living in a trailer in her front yard from when her house was damaged from Hurricane Harvey. That’s stuff I don’t think about because it’s not affecting me personally. I may know it’s going on but it’s not affecting me,” she said.
In keeping with the motto of FFA of “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve,” the group put their words into actions. Lorene mentioned two very impactful things of which she was able to be a part. In their large group session, the facilitators, who were mostly former state and national FFA officers, engaged with the conference attendees and participated in a civic engagement activity on the last day of the conference. These FFA students packed 69,120 meals for Meals of Hope, a food program specifically designed with added vitamins, minerals and proteins to supplement an unbalanced diet. “It was crazy to think that 370 of us were able to accomplish that many meals," Lorene said. They also wrote 191 cards for hospitalized kids and decorated 238 bags for the Meals on Wheels program for the elderly who receive meals in paper bags.
Before leaving the conference, the students were challenged to find an issue that was impacting their community and to determine how they could fix the issue. They were encouraged to work towards a solution, even if it was only on a small scale. They were challenged to establish a goal of planning a living to serve project –a project they would take back with them to affect their school, community or state. “Throughout the week and in every session we were thinking about the project,” Lorene explained. “Toward the end of the week we were making budgets and contacts, things that would help with the projects.” Her project was to create a community garden in her hometown which would provide nutritious and healthy items to the families in need in addition to the non-perishable food items that the local food pantry provides. She wants to work with local farmers and with both FFA chapters in their county to develop it. She thought the garden would complement the non-perishable food provided with a nutritious aspect since that can be more expensive for most food banks to retain. She started working on researching what types of fruits and vegetables can be planted in the area, and also a convenient space for the garden to be located. She thought the scope of about an acre would be manageable and plans to talk with her FFA advisor and chapter when school starts again. “My plan is for the FFA members to work the farm [garden] and provide recipes to go with the items,” she said. “WLC (Washington Leadership Conference) gave me and other FFA membersthe knowledge and confidence to take action in our own communities,” she added. “They gave us the tools, materials and guidance we needed to build that project. They led us and set us up.”
As a synopsis of the trip, Lorene was quick to say it was well worth attending. Already with two years of college behind her when she completes her high school career through dual enrollment, she intends on enrolling at the University of Georgia and obtaining a degree in agribusiness. She feels her experiences through FFA have helped equip, enlighten and ignite her love for agriculture. She encourages others to participate in the program. “Everything FFA does is worth it. You learn new things by doing it and it’s very educational. FFA provides so many opportunities,” she said. It’s obvious that Lorene has found her calling with agriculture. Whether it’s helping out at the local farmers’ market, shadowing professionals at the state capitol or representing her state in Washington, DC, her passion and pride for agriculture is evident and she is not bashful about sharing it. “Georgia grown isn’t just a slogan,” says Lorene, “it’s my story.”
AgGeorgia is proud to support students with interests in agriculture as well as those organizations that encourage and mentor them.