SPARKS — More than 550 FFA students from across Nevada are attending the 2019 Nevada FFA State Convention from March 19-22. Students are competing in career development events and community service projects that provide leadership and technical skill growth for future food and agriculture careers and allow students to build their local communities.
“FFA provides students with skills to succeed in whatever their future interests and goals are,” National FFA Secretary Layni LaBlanc said. “This happens in classrooms and laboratories, at career development events, during supervised agricultural experiences or work-based projects, and within leadership opportunities within the organization.”
One of these career development events was a floriculture competition, which took place at the Sparks Florist Warehouse. This event consisted of designing floral arrangements, identifying floral species and equipment and working in a team to problem solve and efficiently complete a task. These events are teaching both soft skills, like teamwork, and technical skills that can be applied in many other workplaces, including those not related to food and agriculture.
“This is my fourth year at the Nevada FFA State Convention,” Leta Ikonen, Churchill County FFA student, said. “It’s a great opportunity to participate in these career development events, like the floriculture competition, but it’s also nice for our chapter to be recognized for what we’re learning and accomplishing.”
The Nevada FFA Association consists of more than 2,900 members in 29 chapters. State Convention is an opportunity for those chapters to be recognized for their accomplishments. Nevada agriculture education students contributed more than $1.77 million to the state economy in 2017 through work-based projects where they spent more than 219,000 hours developing career skills.
For more information about agricultural education in Nevada and Nevada FFA, visit nvaged.com.
The Nevada FFA Association is a state section of the National FFA Organization, formerly known as Future Farmers of America. The association consists of more than 2,900 members in 29 chapters around the state. Nevada FFA is an integrated component of Nevada agriculture education, a program area within Nevada Career and Technical Education, that focuses on leadership development. Agricultural education is an experiential or work-based learning program that builds communities through service learning, strengthens agriculture by preparing students for STEM-focused jobs and grows leaders through the FFA.
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