Over 70 FFA student members serving as state officers in their respective states started the new year by exploring the history, culture and agricultural practices of Spain through National FFA’s International Leadership Seminar for State Officers (ILSSO).
ILSSO is an annual program designed to develop awareness of global agriculture and enhance cultural competency of student members. The traveling state officers help lead more than 1 million members in 9,235 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“During the trip, students had the opportunity to both demonstrate their knowledge and learn about diverse agriculture practices across the globe,” said Joe Martin, program specialist, advocacy, literacy and ag based experiences at the National FFA Organization. “These experiences overseas help state officers share the unique agriculture practices of Spain with the members of their home state associations.”
While the students had the opportunity to tour and experience the sights of various cities, they spent most of their time focused on agriculture practices in Spain. Participating members visited a cork factory outside of Barcelona, red fruit farm and Iberian ham producer near Sevilla, a citrus and cereal cooperative close to Cordoba, the white windmills in Consuegra and the John Deere Innovation Center in Madrid, among other exciting agriculture-focused activities. You can view pictures from their travels here.
The State FFA Officers who participated include:
Alaska
Emily Faulkner
Alabama
Rachel Lee
Jessa Usery
Delaware
Kayla Parks
Florida
Trenton Felton
Isabelle Jenkins
Ryleigh Locke
Reagan Rowe
Iowa
Lindsay Beyer
Jagger Ferrie
Nora Pickhinke
Cooper VanderHeiden
Idaho
Gabriel Kitamura
Alison Misenheimer
Elizabeth Mueller
Matthew Waite
Kansas
Bricen Benyshek
Maggie Chandler
Dustin Denton
Lillian Hulse
Allyson Rietcheck
Marisa Wasinger
Kentucky
Matthew Estes
Maryland
Sam Moreland
Hailey Pleasants
Mississippi
Graycn Foster
Byron Lopez
Ella Mills
Montana
Autumn Benson
Morgan Bisel
Jordan Leach
Weston Sondeno
Cole Waldusky
North Carolina
Lauryn Honeycutt
Nebraska
Leah Christen
New Jersey
Peter DelCollo
New Mexico
Ronald Garay
Jayda Goodson
Ohio
Paris Anderson
Malainy Boes
Audrey Boeshart
Abigail Garland
Henry Hoisington
Taylor Johnson
Austin Manning
Oregon
Lydia Cruikshank
Olivia Sturm
Alexander Wise
Rhode Island
Bryan Jones
South Carolina
Brooklyn Hill
Tennessee
Weston Brown
Lucy Jackson
Kadence Lipford
Sarah Marshall
Abigail Warbington
Abigail Whicker
Texas
Maddison Diezi
Riley Farris
Brady Hudler
Stephen Smith
Virginia
Franco Abud
Emma Alexander
Kylie Bailey
Georgia Grady
Frank Kent
Danike Landreth
Allexis Phillips
Washington
Kaylyn Bozeman
Aubrey Gardiner
Claire Sheehan
Gustaf Suksdorf
Wisconsin
Tyson Gehrke
West Virginia
Miyah Swiger
Wyoming
Hayden Hubbard
ILSSO is supported by FFA corporate donor John Deere.
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 1,042,245 student members as part of 9,407 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
