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.