Making Motions in Tomorrow's Leaders

I had an awesome opportunity to sit down with Conneaut Area Senior High School and talk to their FFA officer team about Parliamentary Procedure. The officers did not have a lot of experience with Parli Pro but neither do I! I was able to teach them the basics and at the same time, I was able to better understand it myself. They asked so many great questions and wanted to learn more. There were even two times that I was unsure of the answer so we dove into Robert's Rule of Order to find it!

The first activity was going through the process of how to make a motion. I created a set of cards on each step of making a motion, from obtaining the floor to the chair announcing the results of the vote.  Their first task was to take those steps and put them into order. I divided the officer team up into two groups to complete this activity. Each group was able to put the cards into order after a few attempts! Once we completed this activity, we went through each step and looked at how each step and process is pronounced.

After the students had a general idea of what was going on, we watched a quick 4-minute video showing the processes and steps in real-time. Once done, the officers did it for themselves! They had to run their own mock meeting! The motion that was brought to the assembly stated: CASH should purchase a cow for the FFA program. After debating for a bit, a vote was taken and it passed! Until Ms. Metrick stepped in and overruled!

I thought this demonstration was a lot of fun and I think the students had a lot of fun too. We were able to dive deeper into Robert's Rule of Order and talk about how important Parli Pro is for every meeting. I am so excited to see these students use their Parli Pro knowledge in the spring when I am student teaching.

Parliamentary Procedure from Pennsylvania to Indianapolis

An eight hour drive in a van all the way from Pennsylvania to Indianapolis allows for a lot of time to think, and think I did. I thought about how excited I was to once again attend the National FFA Convention and Expo, I thought about all the friendships I would be able to rekindle and strengthen, but most of all I thought about a new challenge that I would get to experience.

The ATA Conclave is held every year in Indianapolis at the same time as the National FFA Convention and Expo serving as a way for those pursuing Agricultural and Extension Education as their future to continue to build knowledge that applies to their major. After word spread that I planned to attend the National FFA Convention and Expo with LEAD Society, I was asked to compete in the ATA Conclave's Parliamentary Procedure contest and accepted.

I had never competed in Parliamentary Procedure before, so I was of course nervous about the event. As time passed and the contest drew nearer though, my anxiety grew. My team's busy fall semester schedules did not allow for us to practice together and the more I heard about the contest, the more intimidating it seemed. The only formal experience I had with Parliamentary Procedure was half of a semester in Dr. Foster's Practical Parliamentary Procedure course and the stories of the teams at the ATA Conclave trying to trick each other into messing up, barely being able to get a word in, and the contest's fast paced nature in general did not quiet my anxiety. In fact, approaching Indianapolis on the last few stretches of our journey from Pennsylvania, I fell silent in the van, trying to keep my nerves in check, but also trying to anticipate what to expect from the contest without having practiced with my team.

So, the contest came, and it went, and each of the prophesies that I had heard about the contest came true. The assembly repeatedly appealed the decision of each chair, crafted complicated motions, and presented questions of privilege that took away from the assembly's time to conduct business. I barely got the chance to make motions and offer discussion as catching the attention of the chair was incredibly competitive. In fact, the contest was progressing so quickly that I was having a hard time figuring out which motion was being discussed. In short, the Parliamentary Procedure competition at the ATA Conclave was even more stressful than I had anticipated it to be. However, it was also one of the most beneficial learning opportunities that I could have experienced while studying Parliamentary Procedure.

Parliamentary Procedure is hard to learn from a textbook, or even in a classroom. Judging by the great leaps of knowledge that I experienced in Indianapolis, the only way to truly learn the complicated processes of Parliamentary Procedure is to partake in an assembly and learn as you go. While I had learned the purpose of each motion in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised in class, it was not until the ATA Conclave that I was able to grasp their application and appreciate their diversity. While I sat flustered as the contest progressed at a rapid pace around me, I realized that in Parliamentary Procedure, knowledge truly is power. While I was intimidated by the assembly's aggression toward the chair, I was able to understand the integrity and purpose that Parliamentary Procedure is built upon, and recognize where the contest lacked in those areas. While participating in the Parliamentary Procedure competition at the ATA Conclave I was not prepared to win, but I was prepared to learn, and learn I did. Though it was a challenging experience, I am grateful for having had the chance to expand my knowledge and appreciation for Parliamentary Procedure from Pennsylvania to Indianapolis at the ATA Conclave.

Taylor Halbleib

More Than Just a Parli. Pro. Workshop

          On Saturday, November 16^th Neve Consylman, Nell Barbour, and I traveled to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Hosted by the Garden Spot FFA Chapter, at the Lampeter-Strasburg High School, was the 2019 Lancaster County Leadership Conference. Joining them were chapters from the surrounding schools such as Manheim, Elizabethtown, Grassland, Cloister, Penn Manor, and Lancaster County Career and Technical Center. Together, us three ladies were tasked with the challenging yet wonderful opportunity to present a 30-minute workshop on parliamentary procedure. The challenge of this workshop presented itself from the beginning. Our minds ventured for days on what we all thought were two key portions of parliamentary procedure that we needed to select to share with the students. The wonder of this opportunity, however, came from the outlook of what do we want the students to walk away with from this experience. Eventually we jointly decided on the topics of “Triple R SUN” of agendas and “Two ACES in the Hole” of motions. We incorporated methods such as visual charts, independent thought, and large group discussion to develop knowledge on the topics.

          At the conclusion of the workshop, students were asked to reflect on what they had learned. Also, how they planned to utilize it back at their home chapters. Like expected, the general answer of restating what we had just concluded instructing on was mentioned. The true moment of reflection, however, came after the session portion of the conference had ended. While standing in line for lunch a student had approached me and we began making small talk. Soon enough the conversation transitioned back to the reflection discussion in the parli. pro. workshop. As a young FFA member hoping to rise to the level of chapter office this coming spring, she thanked me for this educational experience. Using the acronyms discussed in the workshop, she began to feel more comfortable in how to get involved at chapter meetings.

          That afternoon as I was driving back to State College, I found myself replaying that conversation in my head. Coming from a chapter that did not emphasize or partake in parli. pro. activities, AEE 216 was indeed a large leap of faith for me. I constantly wondered how I would handle the information, keep up in the class, and how I would benefit from it. That day made the mock-meetings, online quizzes, and lengthy readings worth it. That day I received my reassurance in knowing that I was positively impacting someone else’s life.