By Savannah Taylor, Righetti FFA Chapter Reporter
Freshman members of the Righetti FFA Chapter attended and participated in a Greenhand Bootcamp on September 26, 2022. Over 100 greenhands took part in five workshops hosted by the agriculture leadership class taught by Amy Guerra. Each workshop included engaging, hands-on activities to teach freshmen about the FFA organization and how they can get involved in the future. This event was done to inspire freshmen to influence the future of Righetti FFA.
The five workshops at the boot camp included tote bag designing, where every participant decorated a bag for the coming year. Treasurer Chloe Hightower, Vice President Carlos Gonzalez, and leadership class member Emma Taylor, facilitated the activity for the members. For many freshmen, this was their favorite workshop, as they also got to learn about further greenhand opportunities like becoming a greenhand officer and attending a Greenhand Leadership Conference.
Greenhands also took part in a mock career development event (CDE) hosted by Historian Erin Trathen, Sentinel Sam McDonald, and leadership class members Saramerrie Torres and Akari Delgado. This workshop was hands-on as they all got to design a bouquet and have it judged, similar to the Floriculture CDE. Based on the Vegetable Crop CDE, members judged carrots and evaluated them based on their quality and eye appeal.
For many freshmen, like Javier Alvarado, this was their first FFA event. “The event was very cool, and my favorite part was judging carrots in the CDE workshop,” said Alvarado. “I liked how I got to play a Kahoot about FFA competitions and design my tote bag. It was a fun and positive environment, thanks to our chapter officers.”
The combined enthusiasm of the Greenhands, leadership class, and advisors created a positive image for FFA and produced a successful bootcamp experience. Greenhand members showed up and were highly engaged, becoming more knowledgeable about FFA and motivated to participate in future events hosted by the chapter.
