Maine FFA Association (formerly known as “Future Farmers of America”) is the leadership organization representing students enrolled in secondary and middle school agriculture and natural resources classes ranging from agriscience to ecology, forestry and horticulture. Student-run, with over 500 members in Maine and over 600,000 at the national level, FFA prepares its new officers in the spring and summer for the many presentations, events and competitions they will conduct for the membership in the coming year.
From left to right: Rick Henningfeld, National FFA Trainer; Clark Bradbury, Mars Hill FFA Vice President; Jordan White, Maine FFA Secretary-Treasurer; Dayna McCrum, Maine FFA President; Isabelle Wright, Mars Hill FFA President; Jason Gurley, Maine FFA Vice President; Devin Grant, Presque Isle FFA President.
Maine’s 16 FFA chapters are located as far south as Sanford and as far north as Caribou. The first leadership training for State FFA Officers is known as “Blast Off!” and is provided by the National FFA Organization through a highly trained facilitator. This year, three student State FFA Officers and three student Chapter FFA Officers attended the “Blast Off!” training on May 29-31 at the USDA Service Center in Presque Isle under the guidance of national trainer Rick Henningfeld of Wisconsin, and Maine FFA State Advisor Doug Robertson.
Student officer participants gained skills in time management, service leadership, modeling expectations, developing focused goals, analyzing their strengths, teamwork and examining talking points related to agriculture. The training included group discussion, hands-on activities and student presentations. Students were surprised to learn of the potential long-term impact they could exert upon fellow students and on the FFA organization and are excited about the year to come.
For more information on Maine’s agriculture and natural resources education, please contact the Department’s FFA Advisor Doug Robertson at doug.robertson@maine.gov or 624-6744.