This past weekend, Ripon High’s FFA got the chance to travel to the Golden 1 Center for the 96th annual State FFA Leadership Conference in Sacramento. The conference expanded from Thursday, March 21 to Sunday, March 24. The FFA students stayed in a hotel near the Golden 1 Center in between days. FFA teachers, Sherry Johns, Celeste Morino, Bulmaro Bribiesca, Danielle Hyatt, and student FFA teacher, Hailie Dorsey accompanied the students on the trip. During the conference, there were multiple sessions that occurred each day where FFA students from all over California gathered and participated in fun and exciting activities.

During the sessions, the California FFA Officers Teams taught the students about leadership through activities and workshops. During workshops, the FFA students practiced leadership skills such as problem solving, resilience, trustworthiness, and communication. Also, the FFA students were able to learn more about the agriculture industry. The leadership skills taught during the workshops are to assist the FFA members in their future careers, whether they be in agriculture or elsewhere. On one of the nights, the State Conference held a party for all the FFA members to come together and enjoy themselves.

The FFA State Leadership Conference is also a way for all the FFA chapters in California to come together and share ideas. The conference allows for the chapters to collaborate and come up with ideas on how to better their own chapter. Methods of leadership, and other important aspects of FFA are shared so that each chapter can reflect on what they can do better as a whole.

Senior, Alyssa Manchester states, “My favorite part was being able to meet everybody from across the state, you meet a lot of different characters out there, and they’re all very supportive of the same topic that were all there for.”