Royers' Parli Pro Refletions from National Convention

I feel fortunate to have been able to attend the 88th National FFA Convention with the Athens FFA Chapter from Bradford County, Pennsylvania. I will be student teaching at Athens in the Spring, and was very excited to spend time with Mr. Steinfelt, the agriculture instructor at Athens, as well as 12 seniors from the Ag Program. We had a busy week experiencing the Expo Hall, the FFA Mall, the sessions, and Louisville. Therefore, I unfortunately was unable to attend the Parli Pro sessions in person.

With the marvels of technology comes recorded sessions! I was therefore able to experience the final round of the FFA Parliamentary Procedure Event right in the comfort of my own home. I was floored! I thought to myself, WOW, this really is the SuperBowl of Career Development Events

I watched the first two teams compete, Oklahoma and Wyoming. I was very impressed with the thoughtful debates from both teams. Additionally, neither team was speaking as fast and jumbled as other Parli Pro events I have witnessed, this impressed me.

The Parli Pro team from Wyoming!

The questions round was actually extremely stressful to watch! I was literally biting my lips watching as some of the students struggled with the questions. The combination of the high stakes situation, the crowd, the questions given orally etc. makes for a stressful situation!

Overall, it was very beneficial to watch the finals. These are the best and most prepared teams in the nation. The videos online are also a beneficial resource that I can share with students in the future!

Best
-Sarabeth Royer