National FFA Week kicked off on February 20th and goes until the 27th. This week is a time for FFA chapters across the country to celebrate the achievements of the organization and spread the word about what they stand for. The majority of chapters usually have different activities they do throughout the week. For example, some chapters will do Ag Olympics, pancake breakfasts, or scavenger hunts, but this year looks a little different.
“I think a lot of it depends on what your community can do right now depending on the restrictions that they have,” FFA Central Region Vice President Paxton Dahmer said. “One of the things (FFA members) can do is engage virtually. That’s been something that’s really come to light this past year, and I think it’s a beneficial way to hold an event during FFA week. You can have a virtual Zoom hour over lunch and invite people across the community to listen in and talk about your chapter. You can even do a different award ceremony during National FFA week in a virtual setting as well.”
If a chapter has to do their events over a Zoom call, they can record them and post the video to social media for those who aren’t able to attend or for those who want to see what FFA is about. “Facebook is a great tool because it connects a lot of different people and over 80 percent of Americans have Facebook. So, Facebook is a great tool to record some of those Zooms to get outside of our community, get outside of the people that know us well, and try to get some exposure and make positive connections because that’s what we’re here to do, to make a positive difference in our communities,” FFA Secretary Anna Mathis said.
The Southern Region Vice President, Artha Jonassaint said that she loves how alumni get involved as well during FFA Week. “I love FFA week because all of the members of my community like to change their profile pictures back to their time in the blue jacket and so many people share their story as to why FFA has been so impactful to them and it makes me realize that I’m a part of something so much bigger than myself and that millions of people have felt the impact of our organization.”
FFA chapters can post what they’re doing this week on social media with #FFAWeek so people all over the world can see how they’re celebrating and giving back to different communities.
