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by: Brandon Roiger
Brandon Roiger of the Sleepy Eye FFA chapter received the chance to attend the POWER (Providing Officers With Essential Resources) Conference from June 12-14 at Deep Portage Conservation Reserve in Hackensack, MN with four other Region VI officers. About 60 FFA members from across the state attended the conference, with students’ FFA chapters ranging from Thief River Falls all the way to Winona. All of these FFA members united with a common purpose: to advance the skills needed to be region officers throughout the year. This year, POWER was facilitated by two former state officers who gave their knowledge on what it takes to be a successful regional officer team.
The first day of the conference focused on creating SMART goals, a mission statement, and a theme for the rest of the year. The second day of POWER centered on workshop development. The whole day was dedicated to each region developing their Fall Leadership Day’s workshops. Region VI’s Fall Leadership Day will be held September 26th in Mountain Lake for Greenhand members as well as chapter officers. The topics that will be covered include FFA Basic Knowledge, Official Dress & Code of Conduct, Supervised Agricultural Experiences, and Leadership Opportunities. This second day was key in creating workshops as officers learned how to connect key pieces of information with support. The final day at Deep Portage was dedicated to workshop facilitation.
In total, there are seven Region VI officers. The region officer teams consists of Roiger along with Mallory Pagel of Fulda, Cory Apperson of Tracy, Stuart Schumacher of Southwest Star Concept, Cody Schroeder of Marshall, Alaina VanOverbeke of Marshall, and Carly Fritz of Russel-Tyler-Ruthton. Throughout Minnesota, there are eight regions each comprised of approximately 6-10 regional officers. Sleepy Eye lies on the northeast border of Region VI. Region VI stretches from Marshall to Pipestone and from Sleepy Eye to Jackson. Each region officer team will typically connect with over 500 students over the course of an average year.
