FFA Takes Annual C.O.L.T. Trip

photo by Kelly Shaw

Last Thursday, the FFA team left school for their Chapter Officer Leadership Training (COLT) conference in Fort Valley GA. They returned the following Saturday afternoon, eager to talk about their trip.
by Brylee Sanders and Kelsey Edmondson

One of the many who were passionate about the trip was Carlyn Tripp (10). She has been involved in FFA for some time and talks about how much she enjoys it. She revealed that she has a desire to enter into the field of agricultural education. Carlyn has traveled for FFA before; in fact, this is her third trip to COLT, with a few other trips in between.

She defined COLT for those who may not know, "Okay, so basically, your chapter officers are the officers at your school. And so when you go on a trip to the FFA and CCLA centers, it’s basically just training on how to run your chapter well. But it’s just a whole bunch of different chapters, and you’re all randomly put into different groups, so you meet a lot of people." She also explained details about this year's trip, "It was good; we did workshops; a lot of it was just talking about how to act on social media and just how to run a chapter in general, how to make it really efficient."

Another team member of FFA was also eager to share: Boston Yoder (9) loves FFA and enjoyed the trip; although it was not his first as a freshman, he’s already taken quite a few. "I’ve taken like fourteen other trips… Officers from all over the state come and basically express what leadership really is."

Caileigh Goldstein (11), the president of FFA said, "I love doing FFA. It truly has brought out the best in me, and now it’s a part of my life... So I’m the president, and their responsibilities depend on their chapter, and they are there for the FFA community, and learn how to be a good leader. It’s all about leadership." Caileigh has also been in the FFA since sixth grade, so this isn't her first trip.

Zy’Mir Taylor (12) said this was his first trip with the FFA. "I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun; we planted different types of plants and had fun with each other." Zy’Mir revealed the trip was really fun, but the weather was really hot. He also explained that COLT “helps you find ways to be better leaders, like being in class on time and helping each other with stuff like that." He wants to further his career, get into ABAC (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), and become a horticulture teacher.
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Overall the FFA team seems to have had a great time at the COLT convention.