November 13, 2023
By Isabella Froshiesar, Weiser FFA Reporter
Bright and early on the morning of October 30, 2023, Weiser FFA left for Boise at 3 AM.
We were grateful to take both our advisors and twelve members of our chapter along for the journey. We took four sophomores, three juniors, and five seniors. We were able to take seven officers across the country.
Our first stop was Cincinnati, Ohio. The night we flew in, we were able to expand our taste buds by trying restaurants we don’t have here. We all decided to dine at the Ford Garage that evening. The restaurant filled our needs and tummies for the next jampacked morning.
The next day we explored the wilderness at the Cincinnati Zoo. This was where our chapter spent the most of the day. However, later that afternoon we drove to Louisville, Kentucky and we had a pretty cool Halloween experience at the Jack O’Lantern Spectacular where there were over 5,000 jack o’lanterns lit up.
On our third day we took a couple tours. We got good history lessons at Churchill Downs where we were able to tour the grounds. We pleased our baseball fans with a trip to the Louisville Slugger Factory where we got to see how baseball bats were created. We then took a roadtrip to the home of the National FFA Convention, Indianapolis, to end the night with a wonderful performance by Lainey Wilson.
Thursday was a day full of convention. To start our morning, we attended the opening ceremony. Here we watched the National FFA band and choir perform, and we listened to guest speakers. At the convention itself, there was a college and career expo where there were loads of booths there to inform us all. There was also a huge shopping mall which is safe to say that Weiser FFA enjoyed that! At the convention, the Idaho state officers hosted an Idaho night for all of Idaho’s FFA chapters to attend. We were grateful to run into familiar faces, especially our own State Treasurer, Clayton Moore.
Friday, our last day in Indianapolis, Weiser FFA made sure to go out and meet as many people as we could. Yes, our advisors tell us networking is important, which is true. However, this group of kids does not need to be told to socialize! We were able to soak up our last day with another lap around the expo and some last minute shopping. Even though it was sad to say goodbye, we made sure to end the trip with a bang to a trip to the rodeo!
The way Weiser FFA has benefitted from this trip is we got to see how others lead. We saw the pros and cons and are now able to see the kind of leaders we’re all going to strive to be. Not only did we learn more leadership skills, but we were able to network with chapters from all fifty states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico!
The trip was a great experience and Weiser FFA is beyond grateful for all those who made this trip possible. The National FFA Convention unites all the chapters across the country, with the convention setting a record high for attendance this year with a total over 72,000 students, advisor and special guest. There is nothing cooler than seeing a sea of blue jackets. A huge thanks to our community for getting us there so our chapter could be blessed with new memories, fun times, leadership skills, and education.
